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BEQUEST  TO 

WILLIAM  JEWELL  COLLEGE 

BY 

CLOICE  R.  HOWD,  Ph.  D. 

HEAD  OF  DEPARTMENT  OF  SOCIOLOGY 

1928-1933 

DIED  MAY  18,  1933 


■Sp  (25corffe  ^arrie,  £).2D.,  IL.D. 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION. 
MORAL  EVOLUTION. 
INEQUALITY  AND  PROGRESS. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
Boston  and  New  York 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE 
IN  RELIGION 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/centuryschangeinOOharriala 


A  jCENTURY'S  CHANGE 
IN  EELIGION/ 


BY 

GEORGE  Ij[ARRIS 

PRESIDENT  EMERITUS  OF  AMHERST  COLLEGE 

FORMERLY  PROFESSOR  IN 

ANDOVER  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

1914 


COPYRIGHT,    1914,    BY   GEORGE   HARRIS 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  November  IQ14 


CONTENTS 

Intboductort '  .      .  vii 

I.  Religion  a  Century  Ago 1 

II.  The  Waning  of  Calvinism 24 

III.  Evolution  and  Theology 55 

IV.  Biblical  Criticism 74 

V.  The  Person  of  Jesus  Christ     ....  86 

VI.  Redemption  and  Conversion     ....  103 

VII.  The  Spiritual  Man 125 

VIII.   Eternal  Life       ........  144 

IX.  The  Kingdom  of  God 180 

X.  The  Church:  Worship  and  Preaching  .      .  194 

XI.  Religious  Practice 207 

XII.  The  Heritage  of  the  Faith      ....  227 
XIII.  The  Enlargement  of  the  Faith      .      .      .  248 


INTRODUCTORY 

How  much  or  how  little  have  religious  beliefs 
been  affected  by  modem  knowledge  of  the  uni- 
verse and  of  human  nature?  That  those  beliefs 
have  undergone  some  change  is  certain.  Have 
they  been  diminished  or  even  undermined?  Have 
they  been  rationalized  and  strengthened?  At 
times  there  has  been  alarm  when  new  theories  of 
creation  and  evolution,  of  the  origin  and  the  con- 
stitution of  man,  of  the  sacred  writings,  have  been 
advanced.  There  are  some  who  say  we  are  all  at 
sea;  we  do  not  know  what  to  believe.  To  others 
it  seems  as  though  a  flood  of  light  had  been  shed 
on  obscurities,  as  though  doubts  and  difficulties 
had  been  removed  and  faith  enlarged. 

Is  it  not  true  that  our  deei>est  interest  in  the 
extension  of  knowledge  is  in  respect  to  its  bearing 
on  religious  beliefs?  While  knowledge  of  the  forces 
of  nature  has  given  modern  improvements,  has 
utilized  invisible  currents  to  increase  the  material 
welfare  of  man,  has  multiplied  the  wonders  of 
discovery,  yet  the  final  question  strikes  at  belief 
in  God  and  the  destiny  of  man.  ; 

vii 


INTRODUCTORY 

Religion  is  conservative.  Vital  beliefs  grounded 
in  human  nature  are  not  greatly  influenced  by 
changing  outward  conditions.  Knowledge  of  the 
universe  and  of  man's  constitution  and  develop- 
ment does  not  make  man  other  than  he  is.  Yet 
beliefs  are  rooted  in  the  actuality  of  the  universe 
and  of  human  nature,  and  must  be  determined 
to  some  degree  by  profounder  knowledge  of  those 
realities. 

Can  we  not  measure  the  influence  that  modem 
discovery  has  exercised  on  faith  by  comparing  the 
religious  opinions  and  practices  of  earlier  periods 
with  the  beliefs  and  practices  of  to-day?  I  propose 
in  this  writing  to  recognize  the  effects  of  mod- 
em excursions  of  knowledge  into  the  realm  where 
religion  dwells,  taking  for  review  especially  the 
last  century,  from  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  and 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century;  to  compare 
the  beliefs  and  lives  of  Christians  of  one  hundred 
years  ago  and  of  the  following  decades  with  the 
beliefs  and  practices  of  intelligent  Christians  of  to- 
day, indicating  various  discoveries  and  tendencies 
which  have  affected  religious  faith.  I  shall  con- 
sider these  changes  as  they  are  disclosed  in  Ameri- 
can life  and  thought.  The  influence  of  modem 
knowledge  upon  religious  beUef s  has  been  world- 

viii 


INTRODUCTORY 

wide,  it  is  true,  yet  the  atmosphere  of  a  democracy 
and  the  separateness  of  Church  from  State  gave 
America  a  peculiar  advantage  in  respect  to  free- 
dom of  thought. 

A  hundred  years  ago  beliefs  were  sharply  de- 
fined. It  was  a  theological  age.  Creeds  were  long 
and  explicit.  A  Christian  must  be  sound  in  the 
doctrines.  The  leading  church  in  New  England 
was  called  the  Orthodox  Church.  Heterodoxy  was 
a  term  of  reproach.  Religious  practices  were  as 
sharply  defined;  Sabbath  observance,  social  life, 
amusements,  family  life,  religious  experience  were 
precisely  indicated.  Moreover  these  beliefs  and 
practices  were  an  inheritance,  but  slightly  altered, 
from  the  Reformation.  The  Westminster  Con- 
fession of  Faith  drawn  up  in  1647  was  the  gen- 
really  accepted  standard.  Calvinist,  Lutheran, 
Reformed  were  names  commonly  applied  to  evan- 
gelical churches  in  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  Reformation  itself  was  a  revolt 
more  distinctively  against  the  abuses  than  against 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  Our  question  might 
be:  In  what  resp>ects  have  the  beliefs  generally 
held  from  the  early  centuries  of  Christianity  been 
changed  in  the  last  century? 

I  select  this  period  also  because  a  large  part  of 
ix 


INTRODUCTORY 

it  is  within  the  recollection  of  many  now  living. 
Indeed,  those  discoveries  and  influences  which 
have,  or  are  supposed  to  have,  modified  religious 
beliefs,  have  come  upon  us  chiefly  within  the  last 
fifty  years.  I  do  not  mean  that  religious  beliefs 
and  practices  were  stationary  for  eighteen  hun- 
dred years,  or  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  but  that  the  changes  of  the  last  fifty 
years  are  more  marked  than  those,  we  may  almost 
say,  of  all  the  time  preceding. 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE 
IN  RELIGION 


A  CENTURY  S  CHANGE  IN 
EELIGION 

CHAPTER   I 

RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

The  period  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  and  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century  was  a  period  of 
political  importance  in  America.  The  successful 
revolution  had  closed.  Half  the  population  or 
more  had  lived  in  the  great  war.  The  farmers  and 
merchants  had  been  soldiers.  The  children  and 
youth  were  familiar  with  the  story.  A  new  nation 
was  founded.  The  thirteen  colonies  had  achieved 
independence  and  were  at  last  united  in  a  Com- 
monwealth. The  territory  of  the  United  States 
extended  far  westwards  and,  augmented  in  1803 
by  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  embraced  all  lying 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  from  Canada  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  except  parts  of  Florida,  which, 
after  changing  hands  several  times,  was  added 
to  the  Union  in  1819.  The  frontier  of  population 
was  pushing  constantly  west.  Great  States  were 

1 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

organized.  The  census  of  1800  showed  5,300,000; 
the  census  of  1820  showed  9,400,000  inhabitants. 
The  people  were  developing  the  resources  of  a 
vast  country.  There  was  no  real  contrast  in  this 
respect  between  East  and  West.  Not  only  were 
the  pioneers  from  the  East,  but  also  commerce 
and  manufactures  made  rapid  progress  in  the 
Eastern  communities.  Boston,  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia were  growing  and  thriving  cities.  There 
were  no  steamboats,  railroads,  telegraphs,  but  the 
people  did  not  know  it  and  managed  to  get  from 
one  place  to  another,  to  transact  a  good  deal  of 
business,  to  know  what  was  going  on  in  the  world, 
to  take  an  eager  share  in  politics,  to  put  forward 
the  new  nation.  The  infant,  or  rather  the  youth- 
ful, democracy  was  finding  itself.  The  weal  of  the 
nation  was  the  paramount  interest.  The  great 
moral  issue  of  slavery  was  not  yet  on  the  political 
horizon.  The  population  was  homogeneous.  Im- 
migration was  chiefly  from  the  British  Isles,  with 
some  Dutch  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  and 
slight  scatterings  from  other  European  countries. 
Nor  was  all  interest  and'progress  directed  to  the 
political  and  material.  Education  was  generously 
provided.  A  system  of  common  schools  developed 
in  one  State  after  another.  Colleges  were  founded 

2 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

as  soon  as  and  even  before  independence  was 
achieved.  In  the  colonial  period  Harvard  was  es- 
tablished in  1636;  WiUiam  and  Mary,  in  1693; 
Yale,  in  1701;  The  College  of  New  Jersey,  now 
Princeton,  in  1746;  King's  College,  now  Colum- 
bia, in  1755;  Brown  University,  in  1764;  and 
Dartmouth,  in  1769.  After  the  Revolution  and 
within  twenty  years  came  the  University  of  Ver- 
mont, in  1791;  Wilhams  College,  in  1793;  Bow- 
doin  College,  chartered  in  1794  and  opened  in 
1802;  Middlebury  College,  in  1800.  There  were 
other  colleges  in  the  seaboard  States,  so  that  by 
1800  there  were  twenty-one.  In  the  very  midst 
of  the  Revolution,  the  Phillips  Academies,  at 
Andover  in  1778  and  at  Exeter  in  1781,  were 
established. 

It  was  not  a  slow-moving  nation.  While  there 
had  been  some  growth  in  colonial  times,  it  was 
from  the  Revolution,  when  the  dependent  col- 
onies had  become  an  independent  nation,  the 
United  States  of  America,  that  advancement  was 
rapid.  The  American  character  was  a  new  thing, 
a  combination  of  alertness,  shrewdness,  enterprise, 
love  of  liberty,  and,  it  may  be  added,  self-satis- 
faction. 

Religion  was  a  dominating  interest.   For  reli- 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

gious  reasons  the  Pilgrims  came  to  America. 
Although  they  were  a  trading  company,  under 
charter  of  the  London  Company  and  the  Mer- 
chant Adventurers,  they  took  that  way,  were 
obliged  to  take  such  means,  in  order  to  go  to 
America.  In  1642  they  settled  with  the  English 
company  and  were  no  longer  proprietary.  *'  This 
is  not  a  trading  company,  it  is  a  religious  com- 
pany," said  one  of  the  Pilgrims.  They  had  gone 
to  Holland,  the  land  of  religious  toleration,  that 
they  might  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates 
of  conscience.  From  Holland  they  had  come  to 
America  that  they  might  have  a  free  church. 
Nearly  all  who  came  afterwards  and  settled  in 
New  England  were  Puritans  of  the  straitest  sect. 
The  Puritan  strain  predominated  all  the  way 
down,  one  and  a  half  centuries,  characterized  by  a 
distinct  theology  and  a  stern  rigidity  of  life.  This 
was  so  much  the  case  that  we  are  accustomed  to 
think  of  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  almost  entirely 
in  the  light  of  their  religious  life  and  severe  creed. 
The  i>eriod  we  are  reviewing  cherished  this  in- 
heritance. It  was  a  theological  age,  more  definite, 
if  that  were  possible,  than  the  colonial  period.  No 
one  was  ignorant  of  theological  distinctions.  The 
Westminster  Confession  and  Shorter  Catechism 

4 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

were  generally  accepted  by  Congregationalists 
and  Presbyterians,  the  Catechism  employed  as 
the  basis  of  religious  instruction.  The  Dutch  Re- 
formed churches  had  a  similar  creed  and  used  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism.  These  symbols  set  forth 
the  plan  of  salvation.  All  men  are  sinful,  have  a 
depraved  natiu-e,  sinned  in  Adam  and  fell  with 
him.  The  consequence  of  sin  is  everlasting  punish- 
ment. Man  cannot  save  himself.  The  Almighty 
God  who  is  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  had 
mercy  on  sinners,  and  having,  out  of  his  mere 
good  pleasure,  from  all  eternity,  elected  some  to 
everlasting  life,  did  enter  into  a  covenant  of  grace, 
to  deliver  them  out  of  the  state  of  sin  and  misery 
and  to  bring  them  into  a  state  of  salvation  by  a 
Redeemer.  Christ  offered  Himself  up  a  sacrifice 
to  satisfy  Divine  justice  and  reconcile  us  to  God. 
Justification  is  an  act  of  God's  free  grace  wherein 
He  pardoneth  all  our  sins  and  accepteth  us  as 
righteous  in  his  sight,  only  for  the  righteousness  of 
Christ,  imputed  to  us,  and  received  by  faith  alone. 
Such,  in  substance,  was  the  belief  generally  held 
by  the  American  churches.  In  the  next  chapter 
will  be  noticed  certain  modifications  and  enlarge- 
ments which  were  developed  in  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  is  enough  now  to  indicate 

6 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

the  doctrines  regarded  as  essential  in  this  earlier 
period. 

Personal  salvation  was  the  keynote  of  religion, 
and  was  thought  of  as  salvation  from  everlasting 
punishment.  There  was  scarcely  a  doubt  of  im- 
mortality. Heaven  and  hell  were  realities.  At 
death,  one  passed,  it  was  believed,  immediately 
to  a  mansion  in  the  skies  or  to  the  abode  of  dark- 
ness and  anguish. 

Creeds  dejfined  also  the  Christian.  Conversion, 
repentance,  faith,  justification,  sancttfication, 
loomed  large  in  as  many  questions  and  answers. 
Church  membership  was  conditioned  on  assent  to 
the  creed  in  its  every  particular.  It  was  assumed 
that  the  church  could  judge  whether  a  person  had 
experienced  religion  or  not.  The  candidate  for 
admission  was  required  to  mark  the  day,  the  hour 
when  he  passed  from  death  unto  life.  Not  a  few 
good  Christians,  men  of  prayer,  did  not  venture 
to  join  the  church  because  they  thought  they  had 
not  had  the  definite  experience  requisite.  Two 
principal  founders  of  the  first  theological  semi- 
nary were  not  church  members,  for  the  reason  just 
given.  Young  men  who  offered  themselves  to  the 
Christian  ministry  were  examined  and  their  be- 
liefs tested  by  councils  and  presbyteries.  Search- 

6 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

ing  questions  were  propounded,  and  deviation 
from  any  doctrine,  the  least  shade  of  quahfication, 
might  lead  to  the  rejection  of  the  candidate. 

There  was  a  current  the  other  way.  The  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  marked  a  breaking 
away  to  some  extent  from  the  Puritan  theology. 
The  French  Revolution,  following  the  American 
Revolution,  had  brought  new  ideas  of  the  rights 
of  men  not  only,  but  of  the  sovereignty  of  human- 
ity. Skepticism  and  even  atheism  were  a  fashion. 
The  reasons  for  this  were  partly  political,  partly 
philosophical,  partly  the  influence  of  French 
atheism  in  a  nation  with  which  young  America 
was  in  sympathy.  Yet  while  this  skepticism  was 
outspoken,  it  was,  after  all,  sporadic,  an  indi- 
vidual here  and  there  denying  the  verities  of  the 
Christian  faith. 

There  was  also  a  reaction  within  the  churches, 
which  culminated  in  Unitarianism  and  Universal- 
ism.  Unitarianism  was  a  protest  against  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Trinity  and  the  deity  of  Christ,  on 
the  one  hand,  and,  with  more  feeling,  against  the 
doctrines  of  original  sin,  total  depravity,  and 
reprobation.  It  emphasized  the  worth  and  good- 
ness of  man  and  the  humanity  of  Christ.  It  was 
localized  in  eastern  Massachusetts,  where  Unita- 

7 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

rians  had  a  considerable  following  and  obtained 
control  of  some  of  the  old  churches.  By  means  of 
the  parish  system,  meeting-houses  and  funds  were 
seized  by  them,  even  though,  in  some  instances,  a 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  church  were  or- 
thodox. Ejected,  as  it  were,  from  the  meeting- 
houses, the  Orthodox  in  a  village  or  town  organ- 
ized a  church  and  built  a  meeting-house  of  their 
own,  taking,  usually,  a  name  that  signified  sound- 
ness of  faith,  such  as  the  Trinitarian,  the  Con- 
gregational, the  Calvinist,  the  Orthodox  Church; 
the  Unitarians  calling  themselves  the  First 
Church  or  the  First  Parish,  or  simply  the  Uni- 
tarian Church.  Thus  there  existed  in  small  vil- 
lages two  churches,  separated  by  doctrinal  differ- 
ences. Acrimonious  feeling  was  intense ;  neighbors 
scarcely  on  speaking  terms.  In  Boston  and  Cam- 
bridge, Unitarianism  was  strongest,  represented 
by  a  number  of  able  and  intelligent  men.  King's 
Chapel  in  Boston,  in  1787,  was  the  first  Unitarian 
Church.  In  New  England  in  1820  there  were  one 
hundred  and  fifty  churches  of  that  kind,  chiefly 
in  Massachusetts.  The  appointment  in  1805  of  a 
Unitarian,  Henry  Ware,  to  be  professor  of  Divin- 
ity in  Harvard  College  was  deprecated  by  the 
Orthodox  and  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  theo- 

8 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

logical  seminary  at  Andover,  with  a  creed  that 
emphasized  evangeHcal  faith  and  condemned 
Unitarianism  and  UniversaHsm  and  "all  other 
heresies  and  errors,  ancient  or  modern,  which  may 
be  opposed  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ  or  hazardous 
to  the  souls  of  men.'*  Harvard  College  was  re- 
garded by  the  Orthodox  as  Unitarian,  a  suspicion 
which  has  lasted  in  some  quarters  well-nigh  down 
to  the  present  time.  It  does  not  appear  that 
Unitarianism  had  a  very  great  influence  in  the 
country.  While  in  eastern  Massachusetts  there 
were  several  prominent  churches,  elsewhere  there 
were  but  few  and,  as  a  denomination,  it  has 
always  been  small.  It  is  claimed  that  its  influence 
has  been  much  greater  than  numbers  signify,  and 
that  may  be  true.  It  was,  however,  so  largely  a 
protest  against  orthodox  faith  and  practice  that 
its  energy  for  a  long  time  was  expended  in  attack, 
and  constructive  work  was  wanting. 

UniversaHsm  was  a  protest  against  reprobation, 
against  eternal  punishment,  against  hell.  At  first 
it  held  to  the  deity  of  Christ  and  the  universality 
of  atonement,  from  which  it  argued  universal  sal- 
vation. Later  it  accepted  the  opinions  of  Uni- 
tarianism in  respect  to  the  person  and  work  of 
Christ. 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

What  really  happened  was,  that  orthodoxy  was 
more  sharply  defined;  that  creeds  were  framed 
with  the  distinct  pm*pose  of  reaffirming,  without 
mistake,  the  essentials  and  minutiae  of  the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints,  and  that  in  this  faith 
the  vast  majority  of  the  people  stood.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  then,  we  find 
most  explicit  statements  of  doctrine  generally 
assented  to  and  held,  with  slight  modifications, 
until  the  middle  of  the  century. 

The  authority  of  the  Bible  was  recognized  by 
all.  Whatever  could  be  proved  from  chapter  and 
verse  was  fimal.  Doctrines  were  substantiated  by 
proof-texts  taken  at  random  from  the  New  and 
Old  Testaments.  The  Bible  in  every  part  was 
inspired,  was  inerrant.  If  there  seemed  to  be  in- 
consistencies, —  for  example,  the  numbers  in  an 
army  as  stated  in  Kings  and  in  Chronicles,  that 
was  an  error  in  copying.  The  original  Hebrew 
and  Greek  were  infallible,  so  ministers  were  faith- 
ful students  of  the  original  tongues.  Reverence 
for  the  Bible  was  profound,  was  a  religion  in  itself. 
Children  read  it  from  beginning  to  end,  and  many 
times,  so  that  they  were  familiar  with  its  stories, 
parables,  precepts,  prophecies,  poetry,  gospels. 
This  practice  surely  was  excellent,  since  the  Bible 

10 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

contains  so  much  elevated  literature,  expressed 
in  the  English  version  in  noble  form.  So  late  as 
the  appearance  of  the  Revised  Version  of  the  New 
Testament  in  1880  there  was  apprehension  in  some 
quarters  lest  the  authority  of  the  Bible  be  im- 
paired by  translation  into  any  other  words  than 
those  to  which  two  and  one  half  centuries  of  Eng- 
lish-speaking people  had  been  accustomed.  Meet- 
ings were  held  in  various  cities  at  which  some  of 
the  revisers  were  present  to  explain  that  in  sub- 
stance there  was  no  change,  but  only  clearing  of 
obscurities.  A  newspaper  in  Chicago  published 
the  New  Testament,  as  revised,  in  full  the  day 
after  it  appeared  and  remarked  editorially  that 
"we  have  read  it  through  and  can  assure  our 
readers  there  is  no  change  in  the  plot."  When 
geology  had  demonstrated  the  antiquity  of  the 
earth,  substituting  millions  of  years  for  the  4004 
B.C.,  marginally  indicated  in  English  Bibles,  there 
were  efforts  to  show  that  the  account  of  the  crea- 
tion in  Genesis  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  facts, 
that  the  days  were  epochs  —  a  thousand  years 
with  the  Lord  as  one  day  —  and  that  the  order  of 
creation  from  matter  to  life,  from  lower  to  higher 
orders,  is  precisely  that  indicated  by  modern  dis- 
covery.   The  conflict  of  science  and  religion,  a 

11 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

phrase  frequently  employed,  really  meant  a  sup- 
posed contradiction  between  the  Biblical  account 
of  creation  and  the  theory  of  science.  To  admit 
that  the  Bible  was  wrong  on  that  matter,  or  on 
any  matter,  was  to  undermine  its  authority  as  a 
whole.  These  opinions  are  mentioned  to  illustrate 
the  regard  in  which  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  were  held,  as  inspired,  inerrant, 
divine,  in  the  eighteenth  and  well  on  into  the 
nineteenth  century.  Theories  of  inerrancy  belong 
to  that  period.  At  the  Reformation,  which  went 
back  of  the  authority  of  the  Church  to  the  author- 
ity of  the  Bible,  it  was  taken  with  largeness  as  the 
rule  of  faith  and  practice,  while  there  was  no  hesi- 
tation about  criticizing  it  in  detail,  —  Luther 
calling  the  letter  of  James  a  right  strawy  epistle. 
Later  everything  was  claimed  for  the  Bible.  It 
may  seem  remarkable  that  such  theories  were 
held,  and  yet  it  is  because  so  much  truth  is  in  the 
Bible  that  it  could  be  maintained  that  all  is  true. 
For  no  other  book  or  books  could  such  claims  be 
made  and  upheld  by  thinking,  intelligent  people. 
The  church  was  a  company  of  people  united  for 
worship  and  the  preaching  of  the  Word.  Church 
and  State  were  separate.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  provides  that  Congress  shall  make 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion, 
or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof.  In  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  the  early  time,  all  citizens,  ex- 
cept those  belonging  to  some  other  incorporated 
religious  body,  were  taxed  for  the  support  of 
Congregational  churches,  but  this  practice  was 
discontinued  in  1811  and  in  Connecticut  in  1818. 
Practically,  from  the  Revolution,  the  Church  was 
separate  from  the  State,  and  all  were  free  to  wor- 
ship God  according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience. 
The  parson  was  a  commanding  figure,  or  if  not 
commanding,  was  regarded  with  veneration  by 
reason  of  his  oflfice.  The  religious  services  of  the 
Lord's  Day  were  the  great  occasions.  Everybody 
went  to  church  except  the  sick  and  those  who 
cared  for  them.  The  exercises,  while  simple,  were 
protracted.  The  minister  prayed  at  great  length, 
in  adoration,  thanksgiving,  confession,  petition, 
sometimes  half  an  hour  or  more.  "To-day  I  had 
much  largeness  in  prayer,"  says  one  and  another 
in  his  journal.  The  Scripture  lesson  was  not  only 
read,  but  also  expounded.  The  psalms,  versified, 
were  sung.  The  sermon  went  by  the  hour-glass 
which,  to  the  discouragement  of  the  young,  was 
sometimes  turned.  The  preacher's  discourse  was 
a  structure,  topical,  doctrinal,  scriptural,  with 

13 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

thesis,  argument,  improvement.  If  we  may  judge 
from  manuscript  sermons  that  have  been  pre- 
served and  from  sermons  of  Emmons,  Hopkins, 
and  others,  time  was  no  consideration.  At  all 
events,  the  parson  had  a  large  and  long  way.  The 
ministry  was  in  a  way  an  apostolic  succession. 
Young  men  who  on  leaving  college  set  their  faces 
towards  the  ministry,  entered  the  families  of  cler- 
gymen (for  until  1808  there  were  no  theological 
seminaries)  and  there  studied  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  Testaments,  assisted  in  divine  services  and 
accompanied  the  minister  on  his  visitations.  After 
two  years  they  were  themselves  ordained  over 
churches.  Some  historians  have  noticed  that  the 
wives  of  many  ministers  of  this  period  were  daugh- 
ters of  ministers.  The  explanation  is  obvious. 
When  a  minister  had  daughters  and  took  edu- 
cated, intelligent  young  men  into  his  family,  it  was 
inevitable  that  some  or  all  of  the  youths  would  be 
attracted.  As  the  girls  came  on  to  womanhood, 
year  by  year,  so  each  year  a  young  man  of  suitable 
age  appeared.  Thus  an  ancestor  of  the  writer, 
minister  in  Attleboro,  Massachusetts,  had  seven 
daughters,  every  one  of  whom  married  a  minister. 
These  conditions  might  suggest  the  material  for  a 
very  pretty  romance  of  early  New  England  life, 

14 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

a  field  that,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  never  been 
entered. 

The  Southern  States,  with  different  origins 
from  New  England,  were,  in  the  main,  as  was 
New  York  with  a  Dutch  infusion,  Orthodox. 
Almost  all  the  people  were  Presbyterians,  for  the 
Dutch  Reformed  and  Lutherans  were  Presby- 
terians and  had  the  same  standards  of  belief. 
The  Heidelberg  Catechism  used  in  the  Reformed 
churches,  while  milder  than  the  Westminster,  is 
substantially  the  same.  In  New  England  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  a  creed- 
making  time  in  the  Congregational  churches. 
Every  church  had  its  own  creed,  to  guard  against 
Unitarianism  and  Universalism.  The  creeds  so 
made  were  a  condensation  of  the  old  Reformation 
confessions,  with  emphasis  on  the  Trinity  and 
everlasting  punishment,  and  were  a  test  of  church 
membership. 

The  specific  religious  practices  as  to  times 
and  seasons  were  observance  of  the  Sabbath  and 
church-going,  daily  family  prayer  morning  and 
evening,  and  religious  instruction  of  the  young. 
The  Sabbath  or  Lord's  Day  was  devoted  solely  to 
religion.  All  work  was  prohibited  according  to  the 
directions  of  the  Fourth  Commandment.   There 

15 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

could  be  neither  work  nor  play.  This  prohibition 
was  strictly  enforced  in  New  England,  and,  indeed, 
generally  in  the  colonies  until  after  the  Revolu- 
tion and  on  into  the  nineteenth  century.  Fines 
were  imposed  for  Sabbath-breaking  in  the  earlier 
time.  In  Plymouth  a  man  was  "  sharply  whipped  " 
for  shooting  fowl  on  Sunday.  Another  was  fined 
for  carrying  a  grist  of  corn  home  on  the  Lord's 
Day,  and  the  miller  who  allowed  him  to  take  it 
was  also  fined.  James  Watt,  in  1658,  was  publicly 
reproved  for  writing  a  note  of  business  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  at  least  in  the  evening,  somewhat  too 
soon,  —  probably  just  before  sundown,  —  since 
the  Sabbath  was  from  Saturday  sunset  to  Sunday 
sunset.  Captain  Kemble,  of  Boston,  in  1656  sat 
for  two  hours  in  the  public  stocks  for  his  "lewd 
and  unseemly  behavior,"  which  consisted  in  his 
"kissing  his  wife  publicquely  on  the  Sabbath  Day 
upon  the  doorstep  of  his  house,"  when  he  had  just 
returned  from  a  voyage  and  absence  of  three  years. 
Abundant  proof  can  be  given  that  the  act  of  the 
Legislature  in  1649  was  not  a  dead  letter  which 
ordered  that  "whosoever  shall  prophane  the 
Lord's  Day  by  doing  any  servill  worke  or  such 
like  abusses,  shall  forfeit  for  every  such  default 
ten  shillings  or  be  whipt."    The  Vermont  Blue 

16 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

Book  contained  equally  sharp  Sunday  laws. 
"Whoever  shall  be  guilty  of  any  rude,  profane  or 
unlawful  conduct  on  the  Lord's  Day  in  words  or 
action  by  clamorous  discourses,  shouting,  hallo- 
ing, screaming,  running,  riding,  dancing,  jumping 
shall  be  fined  forty  shillings  and  whipped  upon 
the  naked  back,  not  to  exceed  ten  stripes."  A 
Maine  man,  who  was  rebuked  and  fined  for  un- 
seemly walking  on  the  Lord's  Day,  protested  that 
he  ran  to  save  a  man  from  drowning.  The  court 
made  him  pay  his  fine,  but  ordered  that  the 
money  should  be  returned  to  him  when  he  could 
prove  by  witnesses  that  he  had  been  on  that  er- 
rand of  mercy  and  duty.  Perhaps  there  was  reason 
to  doubt  the  fact,  and,  at  any  rate,  a  man  had 
no  business  to  be  drowning  on  the  Sabbath.  It 
has  been  gravely  argued  within  my  recollection, 
some  boys  having  been  drowned,  that  it  was  a 
judgment  on  them  for  sailing  on  Sunday.  In 
Belfast,  Maine,  as  late  as  1776,  a  meeting  was 
held  to  get  the  "town's  mind"  with  regard  to  a 
plan  to  restrain  visiting  on  the  Sabbath,  and  it 
was  voted  that  "  if  any  person  makes  unnecessary 
visits  on  the  Sabbath,  they  shall  be  looked  on 
with  contempt."  These  instances  are  quoted 
from  Mrs.  Alice  Morse  Earle's  "The  Sabbath 

17 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

in  Puritan  New  England."  She  says  of  the  strict- 
ness of  the  Sabbath  observances :  "  Sweet  to  the 
Pilgrims  and  their  descendants  was  the  hush  of 
their  calm  Saturday  night  and  their  still  tranquil 
Sabbath,  sign  and  token  to  them,  not  only  of  the 
weekly  rest  ordained  in  the  creation,  but  of  the 
eternal  rest  to  come.  The  universal  quiet  and 
peace  of  the  community  showed  the  primitive 
instinct  of  a  pure,  simple  devotion,  the  sincere 
religion  which  knew  no  compromise  in  spiritual 
things,  no  halfway  obedience  to  God's  Word,  but 
rested  absolutely  on  the  Lord's  Day,  as  was 
commanded.  No  work,  no  play,  no  idle  strolling 
was  known;  no  sign  of  human  life  or  motion  was 
seen,  except  the  necessary  care  of  cattle  and  other 
dumb  beasts,  the  orderly  and  quiet  going  to  and 
from  the  meeting,  and,  at  the  nooning,  a  visit  to 
the  churchyard  to  stand  by  the  side  of  the  silent 
dead.  This  absolute  obedience  to  the  letter  as 
well  as  to  the  spirit  of  God's  Word,  was  one  of  the 
most  typical  traits  of  the  character  of  the  Puri- 
tans and  appeared  to  them  to  be  one  of  the  most 
vital  points  of  their  religion." 

These  restrictions  were  maintained  well  on  into 
the  nineteenth  century.  Although  the  "Blue 
Laws,"  so  called,  of  Connecticut  are  a  fabrication, 

18 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

and  the  Sunday  laws  of  the  States,  strict  enough 
in  theory,  were  not  relentlessly  enforced,  yet  the 
questions  raised,  whether  one  might  on  Sunday  do 
this  or  that,  show  how  rigid  a  practice  was  ob- 
served. Except  work  that  was  absolutely  nec- 
essary, such  as  feeding  cattle,  milking  cows  and 
driving  them  to  pasture,  and  works  of  mercy, 
there  could  be  no  labor  of  any  sort.  After  rail- 
roads were  built,  there  were  no  Sunday  trains 
for  many  years.  Walking  abroad,  except  to  church 
twice  a  day,  was  not  allowed.  If  the  church  was 
at  a  distance,  the  family  might  drive,  as  the  long 
rows  of  horse  sheds  back  of  the  meeting-houses 
demonstrate.  Visiting  from  house  to  house  was 
discouraged.  Conversation  on  secular  subjects 
was  avoided;  for  on  the  Sabbath  one  must  not 
speak  one's  own  words  nor  think  one's  own 
thoughts.  Indeed,  in  many  families,  there  was 
little  conversation  at  any  time;  children  should  be 
seen  and  not  heard.  Pious  books,  such  as  "The 
Pilgrim's  Progress"  and  Baxter's  " Saint's  Rest," 
were  the  only  reading  allowed.  Newspapers  were 
put  out  of  sight  and  there  were  no  Sunday  news- 
papers. By  stealth  only,  off  in  the  garret,  were 
stories  and  romances  read,  and  if  a  child  was  dis- 
covered with  such  a  book  in  hand  on  the  Sabbath, 

19 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

some  punishment  was  inflicted.  No  work,  no 
games  were  allowed  on  Saturday  evening,  nor 
on  Sunday  evening,  for  that  matter. 

Church-going  was  universal;  indeed,  down  to 
and  after  the  Revolution  was  compulsory.  There 
was  a  fine  for  non-attendance.  In  1760  the  Legis- 
lature of  Massachusetts  passed  a  law  that  "any 
person  able  of  body  who  shall  absent  themselves 
from  publick  worship  of  God  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
shall  pay  ten  shillings  fine."  By  the  Connecticut 
code,  ten  shillings  was  the  fine,  and  the  law  was 
not  suspended  until  the  year  1770.  Even  after 
there  was  no  law  or  penalty,  public  sentiment 
insisted  on  church-going.  It  was  an  all-day  affair. 
There  were  two  meetings  morning  and  afternoon, 
with  a  short  nooning  of  one  hour  between  serv- 
ices; in  the  large  towns  a  longer  interval.  The 
meeting-houses  were  cold  in  winter.  The  First 
Church  in  Boston  had  a  stove  in  1773,  though  it  is 
claimed  that  Hadley  had  one  in  1734.  The  Old 
South  Church  in  Boston  had  one  in  1783,  other 
churches  in  Massachusetts,  —  in  1810,  Long- 
meadow;  1815,  Salem;  1820,  Medford.  So  for  two 
centuries  our  ancestors  shivered  in  icy  cold 
churches,  the  only  alleviation  being  foot-stoves 
and  hot  stones.  In  some  places  there  were  "  noon- 

20 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

houses,"  rough  cabins  with  fireplaces,  whither  all 
adjourned  to  get  warm  and  eat  the  luncheons  they 
had  brought.  In  the  towns,  the  people  went  home 
and  returned  for  the  second  service.  There  were 
no  Sunday  Schools,  which  were  objected  to  be- 
cause they  tended  to  lengthen  the  noon  hour.  I 
have  attended  a  church  in  a  Maine  farming 
town  when  the  afternoon  services  were  at  half- 
past  one  o  'clock,  and  the  people  who  came  from  a 
distance  remained  in  or  about  the  meeting-house 
between  services,  unless,  perchance,  some  were  in- 
vited to  luncheon  in  the  village  where  the  church 
was.  My  first  sermon  was  preached  in  that  church 
of  an  afternoon  to  a  "waiting"  congregation. 

I  doubt  whether  people  objected  to  church- 
going,  winter  and  summer,  or  needed  fines  to 
bring  them,  for  it  was  the  one  occasion  when  they 
came  together.  Long  the  service  was,  and  cold 
the  meeting-house,  yet  all,  old  men  and  children, 
young  men  and  maidens,  donned  their  best  and 
met  in  one  place.  One  cannot  but  believe  that 
there  was  more  or  less  of  the  social  at  the  nooning 
and  before  and  after  the  meeting.  At  all  events, 
church-going  was  a  very  important  part  of  reli- 
gion and  was  universal. 

The  Holy  Communion  was  celebrated  monthly. 
21 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

The  controversy  concerning  the  nature  of  the 
sacrament,  a  controversy  which  divided  the 
Reformers,  had  long  ago  ceased.  That  the  sacra- 
ment was  propitiatory,  a  sacrifice  offered  to  God, 
Christ  put  to  death  again,  all  the  Reformers 
denied.  They  differed  concerning  the  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  bread  and  wine,  Luther  holding  that 
Christ  in  some  way  is  actually  present,  Zwingli 
holding  that  the  sacrament  is  a  memorial  of 
Christ,  and  significant  of  the  union  of  the  believer 
with  Him.  The  latter  was  the  conception  of  the 
Puritans,  and  this  view  is  taken  in  all  Protestant 
churches,  with  the  possible  exception  of  some  High 
Church  Episcopalians.  The  communion  was  a 
sacred  occasion;  preparation  for  receiving  it  was 
religiously  made;  only  the  converted,  members 
of  the  church,  could  partake. 

Family  prayer,  morning  and  evening,  in  every 
home  was  the  rule.  A  chapter  of  the  Bible  in 
course  was  read,  usually  by  one  of  the  older  chil- 
dren, and  a  prayer  offered  by  the  father.  Children 
had  to  read  the  Bible  and,  in  nearly  all  communi- 
ties, to  learn  the  Catechism,  and  to  say  their 
prayers  night  and  morning. 

Amusements  of  certain  sorts  were  under  the 
ban.  The  theater  was  a  school  of  immorality,  card- 

22 


RELIGION  A  CENTURY  AGO 

playing  was  a  device  of  Satan,  dancing  was  de- 
nounced. If  a  church  member  attended  the  thea- 
ter or  danced  or  played  cards,  he  had  a  troubled 
conscience  and  was  regarded  dubiously.  Some 
churches  had  in  their  by-laws  such  statements  as 
this:  "Dancing,  card-playing,  attendance  at  the 
theater,  traveling  and  going  to  the  post-office  on 
Sunday  are  inconsistent  with  a  Christian  profes- 
sion." A  church  organized  in  1852  in  a  New  Eng- 
land city  had  that  very  by-law.  If  a  young  person 
thought  of  joining  the  church  he  was  apt  to  think 
of  what  he  must  give  up  in  the  way  of  amuse- 
ments. 

The  religious  practices  which  have  been  de- 
scribed continued  with  little  abatement  until 
within  the  memory  of  many  now  living. 


CHAPTER  11 

THE  WANING   OP   CALVINISM 

The  waning  of  Calvinism  is  traceable  in  the 
period  from  1800  to  1870.  This  limit  of  time  is 
taken  because  it  includes  the  Civil  War. 

The  nation  grew,  each  decade  showing  great 
increase  of  population  and  of  wealth.  The  popula- 
tion, which  in  1800  was  5,000,000,  in  1870  was 
40,000,000.  The  West,  what  we  now  call  the 
Middle  West,  was  largely  agricultural,  raising 
grain  enough  not  only  for  this  country,  but  also 
for  other  countries.  The  prosperity  of  the  East 
was  largely  in  manufactures  and  commerce;  of 
the  South,  in  cotton.  West  of  the  seaboard  there 
was  no  large  city;  Chicago's  population  in  1860 
was  109,000,  that  of  St.  Louis,  160,000.  A  move- 
ment to  the  Pacific  Coast  started  in  the  middle 
of  the  century,  the  pioneers,  called  the  "Forty- 
niners,"  going  out  for  gold,  and  some  for  lumber, 
sailing  around  Cape  Horn,  or  crossing  the  plains 
in  wagons.  Texas  came  in  after  the  Mexican  War, 
in  1845;  California  in  1850.   Railroads  stretched 

24 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

in  every  direction.  The  roads  were  separate,  the 
traveler  from  Boston  to  Chicago  changing  cars 
four  or  five  times.  During  and  after  the  war  trans- 
continental lines  were  built.  National  feeling  be- 
came stronger  and  stronger.  The  nation  in  its 
first  twenty-five  years  had  been  a  rather  loose 
union  of  States.  There  were  two  political  parties, 
the  one  for  centralization,  the  other  for  State's 
Rights.  The  War  of  1812  with  Great  Britain, 
while  it  did  not  accomplish  much  as  a  war,  yet 
solidified  the  nation,  strengthened  national  feel- 
ing, set  us  up,  it  might  be  said,  as  an  independent 
nation. 

In  the  forties  and  fifties,  or  even  earlier,  slavery 
was  a  burning  issue.  Its  advance  was  resisted  by 
the  North;  a  line  was  drawn  across  the  continent, 
north  of  which  there  should  be  no  slavery;  the 
territories  should  not  have  slavery.  There  were 
compromises,  temporizing,  the  rise  and  fall  of 
parties,  fugitive-slave  laws,  the  Dred  Scott  deci- 
sion, a  succession  of  pro-slavery  presidents  from 
1845  to  1861  (with  the  exception  of  Taylor  and 
Fillmore,  1849  to  1853);  at  last,  Lincoln  elected; 
then,  secession  of  the  Southern  States,  with  the 
war  for  the  Union,  the  emancipation  of  slaves, 
the  Union  saved.  All  the  people  were  stirred;  feel- 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

ing  ran  high.  It  has  been  said  that  in  this  period 
poHtics  offered  almost  the  only  intellectual  inter- 
est of  the  country.  That  is  true;  but  it  was  also 
a  moral,  a  religious  interest. 

It  was  in  this  atmosphere  of  political  debate,  of 
national  consciousness,  of  American  self-assertion, 
that  religion  made  its  way.  Slowly,  but  broadly 
and  profoundly,  religion  developed  from  narrow- 
ness to  universality,  from  individualism  to  society, 
from  the  Sovereignty  to  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 
The  principles  of  democracy,  the  establishment 
and  maintenance  of  a  republic  of  freedom,  the 
assertion  of  human  rights  and  liberty,  had  not  a 
little  to  do  with  the  expansion  of  religion.  These 
changes,  which  were  incipient  in  the  period  we  are 
considering,  have  been  fully  developed  in  the  last 
fifty  years. 

In  respect  to  religion,  there  may  seem  to  have 
been  no  fundamental  change.  The  standards  of 
doctrine  stood  unaltered;  and  yet  there  were  modi- 
fications which,  in  those  days,  were  important; 
which  may  appear  insignificant  now,  but  were 
vital  then. 

There  were  New  School  Congregationalists  and 
New  School  Presbyterians,  and  also,  of  course. 
Old  School  parties,  while  still  all  assented  to  the 

26 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

Westminster  Catechism,  —  the  Old  School  lit- 
erally, the  New  School  for  substance  of  doctrine. 
The  Old  School  Congregationalists  were  called 
Calvinists;  the  New  School,  Hopkinsians,  or,  by 
those  outside,  New  England  theologians.  The  dif- 
ferences mark  a  real  advance  in  religious  beliefs. 

I  think  that  an  account  of  the  new,  or  liberal, 
theology  of  that  day  will  be  of  interest,  so  I  shall 
trace  it,  not  going  into  minute  detail,  except  so  far 
as  it  illustrates  the  changes  of  thought  and  the 
motive  of  change,  and  also  the  practical  effect 
of  beliefs,  as  changed  and  as  unchanged,  on  life, 
or  as  it  was  then  called,  on  salvation. 

All  parties  were  agreed  on  the  doctrines  of  the 
deity  of  Christ,  the  Trinity,  the  Atonement  as  a 
vicarious  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  for  the  re- 
demption of  sinners  that  repent;  of  the  depraved 
nature  of  man;  of  the  necessity  of  regeneration;  of 
justification  by  faith  alone;  of  the  eternal  blessed 
life  of  the  redeemed  and  the  everlasting  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked;  and  of  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  Bible.  WTiat  was  regarded  as  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints,  had,  at  the  Reformation, 
been  put  into  shape  by  Calvin  in  his  "Institutes," 
by  Melanchthon  in  the  Augsburg  Confession,  with 
some  formulation  by  Luther  and  other  reformers. 

87 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Back  of  these  was  Augustine,  with  his  doctrines 
of  the  fall  of  Adam,  of  total  depravity,  and  of 
redemption  by  atonement. 

A  century  and  more  after  the  Reformation,  in 
1647,  the  Westminster  divines  had  revised  these 
formulae  for  English-speaking  people,  expanding, 
particularizing,  and  proving  from  Scripture.  The 
Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England, 
defined  in  1552,  were  already  in  use.  The  West- 
minster Assembly  first  thought  of  revising  them 
by  additions  and  omissions,  but  this  plan  was 
abandoned  and  a  new  and  complete  confession  was 
composed.  They  also  restated  it  in  the  form  of  a 
catechism,  with  question  and  answer,  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  young,  beginning  with  the  fa- 
miliar question:  "What  is  the  chief  end  of  man?" 
Instruction  by  catechism  was  a  method  almost 
universally  employed  for  almost  two  centuries 
by  all  churches,  Lutheran,  Presbyterian,  Congre- 
gational and  Episcopal. 

While  in  England  there  was  not  so  clear  a  field, 
the  Westminster  standards  not  having  been  im- 
posed on  the  Established  Church,  in  Scotland  and 
in  the  American  colonies  they  were  adopted  by  all 
the  Evangelical  churches.  Since  the  Catechism 
was  the  medium  of  instruction,  youths  commit- 

28 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

ting  it  to  memory,  the  people  were  permeated 
with  its  doctrine,  which,  so  to  speak,  was  popu- 
larized. The  New  England  Primer,  printed  in 
1685  and  reprinted  over  and  over,  was  in  every 
household.  It  wove  theology  into  rhyme,  tak- 
ing Bible  names  alphabetically,  beginning:  "In 
Adam's  Fall,  we  sinned  all."  How  notions  so  in- 
stilled survive  is  exemplified  in  allusions,  literary 
and  humorous,  to  the  old  Adam  in  a  man. 

This  Catechism  is  a  description  of  the  scheme  of 
salvation.  It  is  not  curious  speculation  about  the 
nature  of  God  and  of  man,  but  a  theory  of  the 
salvation  of  sinners.  All  human  beings  are  sinners; 
they  are  sinful  by  nature.  This  is  so  because 
Adam,  the  first  man,  sinned;  the  human  race  was 
in  him;  he  was  the  progenitor;  so  sin  is  in  the  blood, 
all  men  have  a  depraved  nature,  and  all  acts  pre- 
vious to  regeneration  are  sinful.  The  fall  of  man 
was  regarded  in  this  Catechism  in  a  legal  way. 

When  God  had  created  man  he  entered  into  a  cove- 
nant of  life  with  him  upon  condition  of  perfect  obe- 
dience, forbidding  him  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil,  upon  pain  of  death. 

The  covenant  being  made  with  Adam,  not  only  for 
himself,  but  for  his  posterity,  all  mankind  descending 
from  him  by  ordinary  generation,  sinned  in  him  and 
fell  with  him  in  his  first  transgression. 

29 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

The  sinfulness  of  the  estate  whereinto  man  fell,  con- 
sists in  the  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin,  the  want  of  origi- 
nal righteousness,  and  the  corruption  of  his  whole 
nature,  which  is  commonly  called  original  sin,  to- 
gether with  all  actual  transgressions  which  proceed 
from  it. 

All  mankind  by  their  fall  lost  communion  with  God, 
are  under  his  wrath  and  curse,  and  so  made  liable  to  all 
the  miseries  of  this  life  and  the  pains  of  hell  forever. 

All  this  and  much  more  was  taught  children  as 
the  fact  about  themselves.  The  point  was  that  all 
are  sinful,  even  the  most  amiable  and  apparently 
innocent,  until  they  are  converted,  regenerated, 
renewed  by  repentance  and  faith.  It  is  a  theory 
of  universal  sinfulness  which  confirms  badness  at 
the  root,  dates  depravity  from  birth,  and  makes 
exception  of  nobody. 

Then  follows  the  plan  of  salvation. 

God  having,  out  of  his  mere  good  pleasure,  from  all 
eternity  elected  some  to  everlasting  life,  did  enter  into 
a  covenant  of  grace  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  state  of 
sin  and  misery,  and  to  bring  them  into  a  state  of  salva- 
tion by  a  Redeemer. 

The  only  Redeemer  of  God 's  elect  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who,  being  the  eternal  son  of  God,  became  man, 
and  so  was  and  continues  to  be  God  and  man  in  two 
distinct  natures  and  one  person  forever. 

Christ  as  our  Redeemer  executes  the  offices  of  a 
80 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

prophet,  of  a  priest  and  of  a  king,  both  in  his  estate 
of  humiUation  and  exaltation, 

Christ  executeth  the  office  of  a  prophet  by  reveaUng 
to  us,  by  his  word  and  spirit,  the  will  of  God  for  our 
salvation. 

Christ  executeth  the  office  of  a  priest  in  his  once 
offering  up  of  himself  a  sacrifice  to  satisfy  divine  jus- 
tice and  reconcile  us  to  God,  and  in  making  continual 
intercession  for  us. 

Christ  executeth  the  office  of  a  king  in  subduing  us 
to  himself,  in  ruling  and  defending  us,  and  in  restrain^ 
ing  and  conquering  all  his  and  our  enemies. 

The  question  then  is,  how  man  is  saved.  An- 
swer :  — 

We  are  made  partakers  of  the  redemption  purchased 
by  Christ  by  the  effectual  application  of  it  to  us  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  Spirit  applieth  to  us  the  redemption 
purchased  by  Christ  by  working  faith  in  us  and  there- 
by uniting  us  to  Christ  in  our  effectual  calUng. 

What  is  effectual  calling? 

Effectual  calling  is  the  work  of  God's  Spirit,  where- 
by convincing  us  of  our  sin  and  misery,  enlightening 
our  minds  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  renewing 
our  wills,  he  doth  persuade  and  enable  us  to  embrace 
Jesus  Christ,  freely  offered  to  us  in  the  Gospel. 

They  that  are  effectually  called  do  in  this  life  par- 
take of  justification,  adoption  and  sanctification  and 
the  several  benefits  which  do  in  this  life  either  accom- 
pany or  flow  from  them. 

31 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

The  souls  of  believers  are  at  their  death  made  per- 
fect in  holiness,  and  do  immediately  pass  into  glory, 
and  their  bodies,  being  still  united  to  Christ,  do  rest  in 
their  graves  till  the  resurrection. 

At  the  resurrection,  believers  being  called  up  to 
glory  shall  be  openly  acknowledged  and  acquitted  at 
the  day  of  judgment  and  made  perfectly  blessed  in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  God  to  all  eternity. 

The  Catechism  then  comes  back  to  sin. 

The  duty  that  God  requireth  of  man  is  obedience  to 
his  revealed  will.  The  rule  which  God  at  first  revealed 
to  man  for  his  obedience  was  the  moral  law.  The 
moral  law  is  summarily  comprehended  in  the  ten  com- 
mandments. 

The  commandments  follow:  What  is  the  first 
commandment  .f*  What  is  the  second,  —  and  so  on 
until  the  tenth. 

No  mere  man  since  the  fall  is  able  in  this  life  per- 
fectly to  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  but  daily 
doth  break  them  in  thought,  word  and  deed. 

Some  sins  in  themselves  and  by  reason  of  several 
aggravations,  are  more  heinous  in  the  sight  of  God 
than  others;  yet.  Every  sin  deserveth  God's  wrath 
and  curse  both  in  this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come. 

To  escape  the  wrath  and  curse  of  God  due  to  us  for 
sin,  God  requireth  of  us  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  repent- 
ance unto  life,  with  the  diligent  use  of  all  outward 
means  whereby  Christ  communicateth  to  us  the  bene- 
fits of  redemption. 

32 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

These  ideas  were  put  into  the  minds  of  children, 
not  merely  as  a  system  of  doctrines,  but  as  vital 
truths  on  which  hang  the  issues  of  life  and  death. 
The  whole  object  was  salvation  from  sin  and  from 
everlasting  punishment,  which  is  the  consequence 
of  sin.  So  far  as  there  was  speculation,  it  was  to 
show  how  true  it  is  that  all  are  sinners,  however 
individuals  unconverted  may  seem,  and  that  God 
found  a  way  to  forgive  and  justify.  All  was  aimed 
at  conscious  conversion  in  adult  years. 

Not  all  children  were  subjected  to  this  disci- 
pline. The  writer's  childhood  was  not  over- 
shadowed by  knowledge  of  these  doctrines  in  this 
abstract  form.  Instead  of  that,  his  mother,  a  very 
religious  woman,  required  him  to  commit  to  mem- 
ory the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
read  the  Bible  through  every  year:  three  chap- 
ters every  day  and  five  every  Sunday.  This,  how- 
ever, was  in  the  fifties,  when  Calvinism  was  on 
the  wane. 

There  were  troublesome  questions.  Certain 
implications  of  these  doctrines  gave  uneasiness. 
Are  infants  totally  depraved  .^^  Are  those  dying  in 
infancy  lost?  To  be  sure,  the  Catechism  says 
nothing  about  infants,  but  the  Confession  does. 
It  affirms  that  "elect  infants,  dying  in  infancy,  are 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

regenerated  and  saved  by  Christ  through  the 
Spirit  who  worketh  when,  where  and  how  He 
pleaseth."  But  this  implies  that  some  infants  are 
lost,  unless  it  be  supposed  that  God,  knowing  who 
would  die  in  infancy,  elected  all  such  to  eternal 
life,  and  knowing  who  would  grow  up,  elected 
some  and  passed  by  others,  of  his  mere  good 
pleasure.  Yet  since  human  nature  is  corrupt,  it 
follows  that  all  infants,  even  those  who  die  in 
infancy,  are  sinful. 

Then  election  itself  was  a  stumbling-block,  an 
apparent  injustice.  That  doctrine  was  probably  a 
concession  to  logic.  God  must  have  known  from 
all  eternity  who  would  be  saved;  if  He  knew.  He 
must  have  ordained.  The  creed  adopted  by  a 
church  in  Boston  about  1850,  coming  to  the  doc- 
trine of  election,  declared  that  God  hath  "  elected 
to  eternal  life  an  innumerable  company  which  no 
man  can  number,"  thus,  in  an  approximate  way, 
getting  over  the  difficulty.  Free  moral  agency  was 
denied  by  the  Catechism. 

Then  the  Catechism  declares  that  the  Atone- 
ment was  made  for  the  elect,  was  limited  to  them; 
but  this  is  not  Scripture,  which  affirms  that  Christ 
died  for  the  whole  world;  not  for  our  sins  only, 
says  an  apostle,  but  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 

34 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

world.  These  questions,  which  touched  the  main 
points  of  Calvinism,  were  arising  in  the  minds  of 
many  people. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
there  was  a  New  School  party,  known  commonly 
as  Hopkinsians,  from  the  Reverend  Samuel  Hop- 
kins, a  minister  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  who 
advanced  opinions  at  variance  with  express  decla- 
rations of  the  Westminster  and  Calvinistic  stand- 
ards. He  was  not  alone:  a  considerable  number  of 
ministers  in  New  England  agreeing  in  the  main 
with  Hopkins.  This  new  school  was  known  out  of 
New  England,  and  indeed  influenced  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  especially  in  the  North  and  West, 
causing  much  trouble  and,  ultimately,  division. 

Certain  events  mark  better  than  a  mere  state- 
ment the  divergence  of  the  New  School  from 
Calvinism,  namely,  the  establishment  of  the  first 
theological  seminary  in  this  country  in  1808,  the 
trial  of  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  the  Reverend 
Albert  Barnes  of  Philadelphia,  in  1837  for  heresy, 
and  the  publications  of  Horace  Bushnell,  a  clergy- 
man of  Hartford  from  1833  to  1869. 

The  first  theological  school  in  America  was 
established  in  1808  at  Andover,  Massachusetts. 
Many  clergymen  and  laymen  of  the  Congrega- 

35 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

tional  churches  deemed  it  important  that  there 
should  be  an  educated  ministry.  Until  then,  as 
we  have  noticed,  young  men  intending  to  be 
ministers  resided  after  college,  for  a  year  or  two, 
in  the  families  of  ministers,  pursuing  Biblical  and 
theological  studies,  assisting  in  public  religious 
services  and  in  visitation,  and  then  were  ordained 
over  churches.  There  were  a  good  many  unedu- 
cated ministers  at  large,  though  not  then,  to  any 
extent,  in  the  Congregational  churches.  The  re- 
vivals which  prevailed  had  produced  and  in  part 
were  produced  by  zealous  but  ignorant  exhorters. 
The  spread  of  infidelity  and  the  prevalence  of 
errors  emphasized  the  need  of  an  able  and  learned 
as  well  as  a  zealous  ministry.  The  opportunities 
of  college  and  the  few  months  in  a  pastor's  family 
were  deemed  an  inadequate  training  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  great  calling. 

At  about  this  time  two  groups  of  clergymen,  the 
one  Calvinistic,  the  other  Hopkinsian^  were  in- 
tending to  establish  a  school  in  which  young  men 
under  learned  and  pious  professors  might  be  pre- 
pared for  the  Christian  ministry.  Neither  group 
knew  the  intention  of  the  other  group.  Plans  were 
made  by  the  Hopkinsians  to  plant  a  school  at 
West  Newbury,  Massachusetts;  by  the  Calvinists 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

to  establish  a  school  at  Andover.  Both  groups  had 
enlisted  the  support  of  wealthy  laymen.  When 
each  party  learned  the  intention  of  the  other,  both 
naturally  thought  it  a  pity  that  two  schools  should 
be  established  near  one  another  by  one  denomina- 
tion, so  approaches  were  made,  each  party  being 
reluctant  to  join  hands  with  the  other,  yet  seeing 
the  folly  of  setting  up  two  schools;  and  so  at  last, 
after  two  or  three  years  of  parleying,  they  agreed 
to  work  together  for  one  school,  which  was  located 
at  Andover,  where  already  was  the  flourishing 
Phillips  Academy. 

A  creed  was  framed  which  was  satisfactory  to 
both  parties,  or  at  least  was  accepted  by  both. 
The  Westminster  Catechism  was  taken  as  a 
basis,  with  some  omissions  and  additions,  and  some 
amplifications,  which  made  it  possible  for  the 
New  School  party  to  accept  it.  There  was  a 
broadening  of  doctrine,  the  most  important  being 
the  universality  of  atonement.  Christ  died,  not 
for  the  elect  only  but  for  the  sins  of  all  men. 
Nothing  is  said  about  the  philosophy  of  atone- 
ment,— as  that  it  satisfies  the  Divine  justice,  that 
Christ  bore  the  penalty  of  sin, — but  simply  that  he  ^ 
made  atonement  for  the  sins  of  all  men.  Human 
liberty  is  asserted,  the  power  of  choice  as  against 

37 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

/ 

the  fatalism  of  the  old  standards.  "God's  decrees 

perfectly  consist  with  human  liberty;  God's  uni- 
versal agency  with  the  agency  of  man,  so  that 
nothing  but  the  sinner's  aversion  to  holiness  pre- 
vents his  salvation."  There  were  fine  distinctions 
between  natural  and  moral  ability,  but 'the  idea 
was  that  the  will  of  man  is  not  paralyzed,  that 
there  is  nothing  in  the  decrees  of  God,  nothing  in 
election,  to  prevent  the  salvation  of  any  man  who 
repents.' 

There  was  some  qualification  of  the  idea  that 
Adam  was  the  representative  of  the  human  race 
and  that  his  sin  was  imputed  to  his  posterity. 
The  f  ramers  of  this  creed  seem  to  have  thought 
that  it  is  by  heredity  that  men  are  sinful  and 
corrupt.  "  In  consequence  of  his  [Adam 's]  disobe- 
dience, all  his  descendants  were  constituted  sin- 
ners." Sin  is  by  constitution,  not  by  representa- 
tion. There  was  no  wavering  in  this  compromise 
creed  about  the  sinfulness  of  all  men,  and  the 
necessity  of  regeneration,  nor  that  Christ  was  the 
eternal  Son  of  God,  nor  that  man  might  be  lost 
and  suffer  everlasting  punishment;  but  the  limita- 
tion of  atonement  and  an  arbitrary  decree  of  God 
that  some  should  be  saved  and  some  lost,  these 
were  denied.    There  was  no  qualification  of  the 

38 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

opinion  that  there  was  a  first  man  endowed  with 
reason,  capable  of  high  converse  with  God,  but 
the  creed  did  not  hold  that  we  are  responsible 
and  are  punished  for  Adam's  sin. 

So  the  seminary  was  established,  the  professors 
were  to  assent  to  the  creed,  and  a  board  of  visitors 
was  appointed  to  guard  the  orthodoxy  of  the 
teachers.  This  creed  was  never  adopted  by 
churches,  but  it  shows  a  change  from  the  limita- 
tions of  Calvinism.  The  fact  is  that  in  this  period 
Calvinism,  generally  considered,  was  waning,  was 
ceasing  to  have  influence,  and  Christians  thanked 
God  and  took  courage.  In  a  land  of  liberty,  it  was 
no  longer  possible  to  represent  God  as  an  arbi- 
trary sovereign,  nor  Christianity  as  limited  to  a 
chosen  aristocracy,  as  other  than  a  universal 
religion. 

Thirty  years  later  the  Presbyterian  Church 
was  divided  and  there  were  two  Assemblies,  Old 
School  and  New  School,  broken  asunder  on  these 
very  issues  and  not  reunited  until  1869.  The 
occasion  of  the  disruption  was  the  trial  of  a  clergy- 
man of  Philadelphia,  Albert  Barnes,  who  was 
suspected  of  heresy  by  the  Old  School  party.  He 
had  published  a  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans  in  which  he  affirmed  that  Paul  did 

89 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

not  teach  election  and  reprobation.  The  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  suspended  him  from  the  ministry. 
He  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly,  which 
having  a  New  School  majority,  reversed  the  sus- 
pension. Two  years  later  the  New  School  members 
of  the  Assembly,  in  a  minority  now,  withdrew  and 
organized  an  Assembly. 

The  charges  against  Mr.  Barnes  were  that  he 
maintained  certain  doctrines  contrary  to  the 
standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Reading 
some  of  the  specifications  one  can  scarcely  repress 
a  smile.  He  was  charged  with  denying  that  God 
entered  into  a  covenant  with  Adam,  constituting 
him  a  federal  or  covenant  head  and  representa- 
tive of  all  his  natural  descendants;  with  denying 
that  the  first  sin  of  Adam  was  imputed  to  his  pos- 
terity; that  mankind  are  guilty,  that  is  liable,  on 
account  of  the  sin  of  Adam;  with  denying  that 
Christ  suffered  the  proper  penalty  of  the  law,  as 
the  vicarious  substitute  of  his  people,  and  thus 
took  away  legally  their  sin  and  purchased  pardon; 
and  with  affirming  that  sin  consists  only  in  vol- 
untary action.  Among  the  errors  to  which  the 
Presbytery  of  Ohio  bore  testimony  are  these: 
"That  Adam  was  not  the  covenant  head  or  fed- 
eral representative  of  his  posterity;  that  we  have 

40 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

nothing  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam;  that  it  is 
not  imputed  to  his  posterity;  that  infants  have  no 
moral  character;  that  all  sin  consists  in  voluntary 
acts  or  experiences;  that  Christ  did  not  become 
the  legal  substitute  and  surety  of  sinners;  that  the 
atonement  of  Christ  was  not  strictly  vicarious; 
that  the  atonement  is  made  as  much  for  the  non- 
elect  as  for  the  elect."  These  were  regarded  by 
the  Old  School  party  as  deadly  errors. 

New  School  theology  was  the  dictate  of  the 
heart.  It  was  more  human  and  humane  than  Cal- 
vinism. A  theology  which  aflSrmed  or  implied  the 
damnation  of  infants  could  not  survive.  Logic 
was  powerless  against  the  heart.  The  whole  struc- 
ture might  fall,  rather  than  fathers  and  mothers 
believe  that  those  dying  in  infancy,  or  any  of 
them,  are  lost.  'A  doctrine  of  arbitrary  election, 
the  preference  of  some  for  no  reason  but  the  mere 
good  pleasure  of  God,  was  impossible,  and  had  to 
go.  That  man  is  a  free  moral  being  with  power 
of  choice  could  not  and  should  not  be  denied.  It 
was  insisted  on  that  Christ  died  for  all  men,  not 
merely  for  some  men;  that  whosoever  will  may 
have  life;  that  Christianity  is  a  universal  religion. 
Salvation  is  not  a  magical  process  by  the  irresist- 
ible power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  is  ethical,  man 

41 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

responding  of  his  own  choice  to  the  influences  and 
motives  of  the  truth,  the  Spirit  taking  the  things 
of  Christ  and  showing  them  unto  us.^  The  soul 
that  is  lost,  loses  itself,  —  "Ye  will  not  come  unto 
me  that  ye  might  have  Hfe."  Sin  is  known  to  be 
sin  because  the  ideal  is  known,  not  because  the 
first  man  sinned  and  in  some  mysterious  way  in- 
volved his  posterity  in  sin.  Sin  is  known  to  be  sin 
in  view  of  Christ,  the  perfect,  sympathizing,  self- 
sacrificing  man,  who  reveals  God  to  us,  and  not  in 
view  of  an  ancestor  who  did  wrong. 

So  the  New  School  of  seventy-five  years  ago 
was  revolutionary,  after  all,  rescuing  the  Gospel 
from  an  arbitrary,  an  inhuman  representation. 
The  revivals  which  accompanied  this  advance 
assumed  the  freedom  of  the  will  and  the  univer- 
sality of  the  Gospel. 

In  1846,  Horace  Bushnell,  a  Congregational 
clergyman  of  Hartford,  published  a  book  en- 
titled "Christian  Nurture."  "Its  specific  aim 
was,"  says  Dr.  Munger  in  his  "  Life  of  Bushnell," 
*'to  establish  the  proposition  that  the  child  is  to 
grow  up  a  Christian  and  never  know  himself  as 
being  otherwise.  A  very  simple  statement,  but  it 
shook  New  England  theology  to  its  foundations." 
Stress  had  been  laid  upon  conversion.   The  indi- 

42 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

vidual  to  be  saved  must  pass  through  an  experi- 
ence of  repentance,  of  trusting  in  the  atonement 
made  by  Christ,  of  justification  by  faith  in  order 
to  escape  the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  everlast- 
ing punishment.  The  New  School  theology  had 
asserted  the  freedom  of  the  will  and  the  univer- 
sality of  atonement,  and  so  had  done  away  with 
fatalism;  yet  all  the  more  thereby  had  emphasized 
individualism,  the  necessity  that  the  person  him- 
self, of  his  own  act,  any  person,  every  person, 
should  cast  himself  on  Christ,  should  give  his 
heart  to  God.  Until  he  did  that  consciously,  he 
was  in  the  bondage  of  sin,  for  by  nature  he  is 
depraved  and  exposed  to  everlasting  punishment. 
This  theology  had  promoted  revivals,  which 
were  very  common.  Revivalists  went  about  from 
town  to  town,  holding  daily  and  nightly  meetings, 
urging  people  to  choose,  to  will,  to  come  out  on 
the  Lord's  side.  Every  one,  old  and  young,  should 
have  this  religious  experience;  children,  as  well  as 
adults,  needed  to  be  consciously  converted.  They 
were  told  that  they  were  sinful,  that  they  were  in 
danger,  that  they  must  repent,  must  decide.  Boys 
and  girls  who  wished  to  unite  with  the  church 
went  before  examining  committees  to  relate  their 
religious  experience.    A  certain  deacon  did  not 

43 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

allow  his  daughter  to  join  the  church  because,  as 
he  thought,  she  was  not  long  enough  and  deeply 
enough  under  conviction  of  sin.  Now  the  expe- 
rience of  conversion  is  the  experience  of  adults. 
Children,  it  was  held,  must  wait  until  they  were 
older,  for  they  were  sinful  and  must  pass  con- 
sciously and  voluntarily  from  death  unto  life. 
Bushnell,  writing  of  revivals,  said:  — 

It  is  a  religion  that  begins  explosively  and,  after  the 
campaign  is  over,  subsides  into  a  torpor.  Considered 
as  a  distinct  era,  introduced  by  Edwards,  and  extended 
and  caricatured  by  his  contemporaries,  it  has  one  great 
merit  and  one  great  defect.  The  merit  is,  that  it  dis- 
placed an  era  of  great  formality  and  brought  in  the 
demand  of  a  truly  spiritual  experience.  The  defect  is 
that  it  has  cast  a  type  of  religious  individualism  intense 
beyond  any  former  example.  It  makes  nothing  of  the 
family  and  the  church  and  the  organic  powers  God  has 
constituted  as  means  of  grace.  It  takes  every  man  as  if 
he  had  existed  alone;  presumes  that  he  is  unreconciled 
to  God  until  he  has  undergone  some  sudden  and  ex- 
plosive experience  in  adult  years,  or  after  the  age  of 
reason;  demands  that  experience,  and  only  when  it  is 
reached  allows  the  subject  to  be  an  heir  of  life. 

The  thesis  of  his  book  is:  — 

The  child  is  to  grow  up  a  Christian  and  never  know 
himself  as  being  otherwise.  In  other  words,  the  aim, 
effort  and  expectation  should  be,  not  as  is  commonly 

44 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

assumed,  that  the  child  is  to  grow  up  in  sin,  to  be  con- 
verted after  he  comes  to  a  mature  age,  but  that  he  is 
to  open  on  the  world  as  one  who  is  spiritually  renewed, 
not  remembering  a  time  when  he  went  through  a  tech- 
nical experience,  but  seeming  rather  to  have  loved 
what  is  good  from  his  earliest  years. 

There  was  a  storm  of  protest,  for  what,  in  this 
view,  became  of  original  sin,  total  depravity,  con- 
version, and  regeneration? 

How  strange  it  seems  [says  Dr.  Munger]  that  a  book 
so  bathed  in  household  love,  a  very  cradle-song  of 
Christian  faith,  should  have  become  the  occasion  of  a 
theological  controversy  of  the  proverbial  bitterness. 
Few  people  in  New  England  would  now  hesitate  to 
say  that  it  is  wise  to  train  children  into  the  Christian 
life  very  much  as  Bushnell  suggests;  and  the  greater 
part  would  wonder  where  the  theological  difl&culties 
come  in.  .  .  .  For  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  concep- 
tion of  spiritual  regeneration  and  of  the  means  and 
methods  that  prevailed  at  the  time  have  largely  passed 
away,  and  that  everything  except  the  simple  need  of  it 
has  yielded  to  a  conception  based  upon  and  composed 
chiefly  of  religious  nurture.  The  various  theories  of 
depravity,  of  the  will,  of  divine  grace,  of  the  action 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  sanctification,  have  either  disap- 
peared or  been  so  altered  as  hardly  to  be  recognized. 
In  its  place  are  conceptions  of  human  nature  and  its 
moral  condition,  of  heredity  and  environment,  of  sin, 
of  the  will,  of  moral  culture  and  religious  experiences, 
which  are  most  unlike  those  they  have  displaced. 

45 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Biblical  interpretation,  psychology,  and  the  closer 
study  of  hfe  in  all  its  departments,  are  forcing  theology 
to  recognize  the  fact  that  Christian  character  is  chiefly 
a  matter  of  Christian  nurture. 

Horace  E.  Scudder,  writing  on  "Childhood  in 
Literature  and  Art,"  thus  characterizes  the  Puri- 
tan reversal  of  the  Christian  order:  — 

The  theological  substratum  of  Puritan  morality  de- 
nied to  childhood  any  freedom,  and  kept  the  life  of 
man  in  waiting  upon  the  conscious  turning  of  the  soul 
to  God.  Hence  childhood  was  a  time  of  probation  and 
suspense.  It  was  wrong  to  begin  with,  and  was  re- 
pressed in  its  nature  until  maturity  should  bring  an 
active  and  conscious  allegiance  to  God.  Hence,  also, 
parental  anxiety  was  forever  earnestly  seeking  to  an- 
ticipate the  maturity  of  age,  and  to  secure  for  child- 
hood that  reasonable,  intellectual  belief,  which  it  held 
to  be  necessary  to  salvation;  there  followed  then  a 
replacement  of  free  childhood  by  an  abnormal  devel- 
opment. In  any  event,  the  tendency  of  the  system  was 
to  ignore  childhood,  to  get  rid  of  it  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, and  to  make  the  State  contain  only  self-conscious 
determined  citizens  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  There 
was,  im.wittingly,  a  reversal  of  the  Divine  message, 
and  it  was  said  to  children,  except  ye  become  as  grown 
men  and  women,  ye  cannot  enter  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven. 

Bushnell  wrote  a  book  in  1859,  which  made  even 
more  of  a  stir  in  theological  circles  than  "Chris- 

46 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

tian  Nurture,'*  thirteen  years  earlier,  had  made. 
It  is  entitled  "The  Vicarious  Sacrifice." 

The  Calvinistic  view  of  atonement  had  been 
modified  in  New  England  theology,  as  we  have 
seen.  The  New  England  theology  evolved  the 
so-called  governmental  theory  of  atonement;  the 
theory  that  the  atonement  vindicates  the  general 
or  public  justice  of  God,  since  it  expresses  his 
hatred  of  sin,  and  that  his  government  being  sus- 
tained, it  is  possible  for  Him  to  forgive  the  peni- 
tent. This  was  a  forensic  treatment  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ  and  was  purely  a  speculation.  That  it 
had  any  motive  power  is  much  to  be  doubted.  It 
was  only  an  escape  from  mercantile  transference 
of  the  penalty  of  sin  from  one  person  to  another, 
but  it  emphasized  the  universality  of  atonement. 

Bushnell  saw  in  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ  the  expression  of  love,  God  making  his 
great  way  to  men  through  sacrifice.  It  is  through 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ  we  are  recovered  from  self- 
ishness to  goodness  and  love.  He  bore  our  sins 
indeed;  He  suffered  on  account  of  our  sin;  and  so 
brings  us  back  to  God,  for  He  reveals  God  to  us  in 
his  real  character.  The  object  was  not  the  satis- 
faction of  Divine  justice,  or  the  maintenance  of 
Divine  government,  but  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

47 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.  "  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not 
perish  but  have  everlasting  life."  It  was  a  new 
life  of  sacrifice,  not  imputed  but  imparted. 

A  heated  controversy  ensued.  Outside  New 
England  the  moral  influence  theory,  as  it  was 
called,  was  almost  universally  repudiated,  but 
now  these  views  are  more  generally  accepted  than 
any  others.  It  is  not  true,  of  course,  that  one 
man,  by  writing  a  book,  changed  legal  into  vital 
conceptions,  but  Bushnell  was  the  means  of 
crystallizing  thought  in  the  direction  it  was  al- 
ready taking,  from  the  idea  of  a  transaction,  an 
arrangement,  to  the  idea  of  a  vital  spiritual  in- 
fluence, —  holding  up  the  Cross  as  a  symbol,  not 
of  penalty,  but  of  love. 

Methodism  made  rapid  progress  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  indeed  all  through 
the  century,  until  now  it  is  the  largest  denomi- 
nation in  the  United  States,  numbering  seven 
million  communicants.  Methodism  affirmed  the 
Fatherhood  of  God,  the  love  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  freedom 
of  the  will.  There  is  a  tradition  that  John  Wesley 
said  to  a  Calvinist:  "Your  God  is  my  devil."  The 

48 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

sax2rifice  of  Christ  is  regarded  by  Methodists  as 
purifying,  cleansing  from  sin.  "The  cleansing 
blood,"  "Washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,"  are 
familiar  expressions.  The  Cross  of  Christ  made 
at-one-ment  between  God  and  man.  Methodists 
emphasize  conversion,  exalt  emotion,  promote 
revivals. 

Episcopacy  won  favor  slowly.  At  the  close  of 
the  Revolution,  outside  of  Connecticut,  there 
were  only  six  Episcopal  clergymen  in  New  Eng- 
land. In  1785  was  the  first  general  convention. 
There  were  but  few  churches,  and  those  in  cities, 
for  thirty  or  forty  years.  The  denomination  now 
numbers  about  one  million  communicants.  It  is 
more  democratic  than  the  Church  of  England,  for 
there  has  been,  from  the  first  establishment,  repre- 
sentation of  laymen.  It  is  thoroughly  orthodox. 
The  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  faith,  which  were  for- 
mulated in  1552,  are  still  printed  in  the  Prayer 
Book,  although  subscription  is  not  required  either 
of  clergy  or  laity.  These  articles,  drawn  up  ninety 
years  before  the  Westminster  Confession  was 
framed,  were  taken  from  earlier  doctrinal  state- 
ments, as  the  Augsburg  and  the  Wiirtemberg  con- 
fessions, which  are  milder  than  the  Calvinistic  in 
respect  to  predestination  and  election?  The  Thirty- 

49 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

nine  Articles  were  not  strict  enough  for  the  West- 
minster divines,  and  they  abandoned  the  pur- 
pose of  revising  them.  The  Articles  are  not  so 
important  or  significant  as  the  ritual,  with  the 
Apostles'  and  Nicene  creeds  constantly  used,  and 
the  prayers  in  warp  and  woof  Trinitarian.  The 
Incarnation  is  as  essential  a  doctrine  as  atone- 
ment. The  beauty  and  dignity  of  the  worship 
attract  many.  Preaching  is  less  important  than 
the  service  which,  while  formal,  is  satisfying  and 
uplifting.  The  Episcopal  Church  has  had  a  great 
influence  on  other  churches  in  respect  to  worship. 
Formerly,  in  the  other  denominations,  the  congre- 
gation had  no  part  in  worship,  except  for  singing 
versified  psalms,  and,  later,  hymns.  Now,  in  all 
churches,  the  people  participate  in  saying  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  in  responsive  reading  of  psalms, 
and  in  repetition  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.  The 
Episcopal  Church  maintains  the  organic  relations, 
believes  in  Christian  nurture,  confirms  youths  at 
an  early  age  in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel. 

The  churches  of  America,  of  various  names, 
went  along  together,  shifting  the  center  of  doc- 
trine from  the  sovereignty  to  the  Fatherhood  of 
God,  and  from  the  bondage  to  the  freedom  of 
man. 

50 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

The  hymns  of  the  church  illustrate  changes  of 
belief.  However  the  churches  differ  in  government, 
in  customs,  and  even  avowed  belief,  they  sing  the 
same  hymns.  Wesley's  hymns  of  grace  and  love 
came  in,  and  one  and  another  of  them  found  a 
place  beside  the  versified  psalms.  The  hymns  of 
Isaac  Watts,  which  are  chiefly  praise  to  Almighty 
God,  some  of  them  very  noble,  were  sung  in  all 
the  churches.  Hymns  to  Jesus,  the  friend,  the 
example,  the  redeemer,  followed;  and  hymns  of 
heaven,  some  of  them  ancient  and  mediaeval, 
hymns  of  the  Christian  life,  and  a  few  missionary 
hymns  and  hymns  of  the  Church.  With  the  last 
exception,  nearly  all  are  expressive  of  the  feelings 
of  the  individual,  of  his  hopes,  aspirations  and 
penitence.  Examples  of  favorite  hymns  of  fifty 
or  sixty  years  ago,  some  of  which  are  still  favor- 
ites, are:  "Rock  of  Ages,"  "Jesus,  Lover  of  my 
Soul,"  "My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee,"  "Oh  could 
I  speak  the  matchless  worth,"  "Just  as  I  am  with- 
out one  plea,"  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee,"  "  How 
firm  a  foundation."  Except  some  hymns  of 
Wesley  and  Watts,  few  of  this  sort  are  found 
earlier  than  1830,  though  "Rock  of  Ages"  was 
written  in  1776. 

Prayer-meetings,  at  which  laymen  spoke  and 
51 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

prayed,  date  from  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Many  clergymen  opposed  them  on  the 
ground  that  ministers  only  are  capable  of  giving 
religious  instruction.  There  had  been  the  weekly 
lecture,  on  a  Wednesday  or  Thursday  evening, 
when  the  pastor  expounded  a  portion  of  Scripture, 
and  this  was  maintained  for  a  time  after  the 
prayer-meeting  came  in,  but  on  another  evening 
of  the  week.  The  weekly  prayer-meeting  survived 
and  was  supported  in  all  Protestant  denomina- 
tions except  the  Episcopal.  It  used  to  be  called 
the  barometer  of  the  church.  Many  thought  that 
the  numbers  in  attendance  and  the  freedom  or 
restraint  of  the  brethren  indicated  the  spiritu- 
ality of  the  church.  Laymen  shrank  from  public 
address;  there  were  awkward  pauses;  one  and 
another  spoke  or  prayed  to  occupy  the  time. 
Sometimes  the  meetings  were  refreshing.  The 
prayer-meeting  is  still  maintained  in  one  form  and 
another  by  the  great  majority  of  the  churches,  but 
it  does  not  enlist  the  attendance  or  participation 
of  many,  and  the  minister  does  the  praying  and 
speaking.  In  some  churches,  it  is  frankly  called 
**the  mid-week  lecture,"  reverting  to  the  earlier 
practice.  The  Methodist  and  Baptist  churches 
still  make  much  of  the  prayer-meeting. 

52 


THE  WANING  OF  CALVINISM 

Preaching  improved  while  the  authority  of  the 
preacher  decHned,  that  is,  the  authority  of  office. 
Doctrinal  preaching  almost  entirely  ceased. 
Preaching  was  vital,  spiritual,  practical. 

Sunday  schools  are  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  first  was  in  England  in  1780,  for  ragged  chil- 
dren, who  had  no  religious  instruction  at  home. 
Sunday  schools  were  for  teaching  from  the  Bible, 
the  Catechism  being  no  longer  employed. 

The  first  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
was  about  1850.  In  a  few  years  there  was  an  asso- 
ciation in  every  city  and  large  town,  and  in  the 
colleges.  These  associations  hold  religious  serv- 
ices, teach  young  men  the  Bible,  give  useful 
knowledge,  provide  amusements,  and  furnish 
employment.  The  members  are  counted  by  mil- 
lions, the  buildings  by  hundreds.  All  the  Evan- 
gelical denominations  unite  in  supporting  them. 
There  are  also  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations, with  similar  purposes. 

Missionary  societies  were  organized  to  carry  the 
Gospel  to  the  frontiers.  Foreign  Missions  began 
in  1810,  the  Congregationalists  and  Presbyterians 
then  uniting  under  one  board,  the  other  denomi- 
nations following  very  soon,  carrying  the  Gospel 
to  all  parts  of  the  earth. 

53 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Religious  practice  is  considered  somewhat  at 
length  in  a  later  chapter.  It  may  be  said  here 
that,  in  this  period,  there  was  some  relaxation  of 
Sabbath  observance,  especially  during  the  Civil 
War,  when  there  was  traveling  on  Sunday  and 
the  publication  of  newspapers.  Innocent  amuse- 
ments were  encouraged.  The  severity  of  religion 
was  somewhat  modified;  the  freedom  of  the  Chris- 
tian enlarged. 


CHAPTER  III 

EVOLUTION  AND   THEOLOGY 

r 

The  science  of  astronomy  had  for  centuries  fa- 
miliarized man  with  the  vast  extent  of  the  universe. 
The  immensity,  the  illimitableness  of  space,  the 
littleness  of  the  earth,  had  long  been  understood. 
Not  the  earth,  but  the  sun,  is  the  center  of  the 
planetary  system.  The  fixed  stars  were  believed 
to  be  suns,  system  beyond  system,  staggering 
imagination,  all  rushing  through  space;  the  earth 
therefore  relatively  insignificant.  But  this  was  not 
disturbing  to  faith.  The  immensity  of  the  uni- 
verse and  the  laws  of  its  motion  glorify  God  the 
Creator.  The  Bible  was  seen  to  lend  itself  to  this 
enlarged  view;  as  the  eighth  psalm:  "When  I  con- 
sider thy  heavens  the  work  of  thy  fingers,  the 
moon  and  the  stars,  which  thou  hast  ordained; 
What  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him,  and  the 
son  of  man,  that  thou  visitest  him?'*  It  was  per- 
ceived that  mere  bulk  does  not  determine  value. 
The  earth  might  be  the  only  habitable  planet,  or, 
if  others  are  inhabited,  the  earth  might  be  the 

55 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

center  of  the  moral  universe,  the  scene  of  redemp- 
tion. Although  the  earth  is  small,  yet  man  is  the 
crown  of  creation,  as  the  same  eighth  psalm  de- 
clares :  — 

Thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels; 
and  hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor.  Thou 
madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  thy 
hands;  thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet:  all 
sheep  and  oxen,  yea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field;  the 
fowl  of  the  air,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  whatsoever 
passeth  through  the  paths  of  the  seas. 

So  the  chorus  of  the  Antigone:  — 

Of  all  strong  things,  none  is  more  wonderfully  strong 
than  Man.  He  can  cross  the  wintry  sea,  and  year  by 
year  compels  with  his  plough  the  unwearied  strength 
of  Earth,  the  oldest  of  the  immortal  gods.  He  seizes  for 
his  prey  the  aery  birds  and  teeming  fishes,  and  with  his 
wit  has  tamed  the  mountain-ranging  beasts,  the  long- 
maned  horses  and  the  tireless  bull.  Language  is  his, 
and  wind-swift  thought  and  city-foimding  mind;  and 
he  has  learned  to  shelter  him  from  cold  and  piercing 
rain;  and  has  devices  to  meet  every  ill,  but  Death 
alone.  Even  for  desperate  sickness  he  has  a  cure,  and 
with  his  boundless  skill  he  moves  on,  sometimes  to  evO, 
but  then  again  to  good. 

Man  is  great  in  God's  world,  for  man  compre- 
hends the  universe,  knows  it  as  a  whole,  and  rec- 
ognizes its  laws.    The  wonder  of  vastness  is  no 

56 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

greater  than  the  wonder  of  littleness,  as,  the  con- 
tents of  a  drop  of  water,  of  a  drop  of  blood,  the 
potencies  of  invisible  atoms.  The  revelations  of 
the  microscope  are  as  impressive  as  the  revela- 
tions of  the  telescope;  the  infinitesimal,  as  much 
as  the  infinite,  taxes  the  imagination.  The  vast- 
ness  of  the  universe,  revealing  the  omnipotence 
and  omnipresence  of  God,  was  a  theme  for  ser- 
mons. I  remember  hearing  such  sermons  in  a 
little  country  church  in  my  boyhood,  the  preacher 
naively  speaking  of  the  planets  Jupiter  and  Nep- 
tune as  on  the  "outskirts"  of  creation. 
d-  The  science  of  ^eolo^  had  pushed  back  be- 
ginnings to  milHons  of  years.  The  testimony  of 
the  rocks  indicated  periods  of  incalculable  length, 
the  eozoic,  mesozoic,  glacial  periods.  How  long 
had  the  Niagara  River  been  at  work  cutting  the 
seven-mile  gorge  below  the  Falls  .^^  At  first  geo- 
logists said  that  it  was  at  the  rate  of  three  feet  a 
year,  then  three  feet  in  a  century.  It  is  not  nec- 
essary to  go  over  the  evidence  in  detail.  The  six- 
thousand-year  scale  of  time  was  replaced  by  the 
million  or  billion  scale.  This  again,  however,  was 
not  disturbing  to  faith,  after  the  first  shock  of 
adjustment  had  passed.  The  attempt  was  made 
to  reconcile  geological  time  with  the  Bibhcal 

57 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

account  of  creation,  which,  it  was  maintained, 
was  in  keeping  with  an  age-long  process.  In  the 
beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
says  that  ancient  cosmogony;  but  it  does  not  say 
when  or  how  long  the  earth  was  waste  and  void 
and  darkness  was  on  the  face  of  the  deep,  or  how 
long  ago  and  how  long  the  Spirit  of  God  was  brood- 
ing or  moving  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  Days 
of  creation  may  have  meant  periods,  —  certainly 
not  solar  days,  since,  according  to  the  account, 
the  sun  was  not  created  until  the  fourth  day.  And 
creation  is  there  represented  as  a  process,  an  as- 
cending order:  light  appearing,  water  and  land, 
plant  life,  sunlight  and  moonlight;  then  life  that 
moves,  fish  swimming,  birds  flying,  beasts  roam- 
ing; then,  last  and  best,  man. 

Compared  with  other  cosmogonies,  the  Biblical 
is,  indeed,  in  dignity  and  beauty,  superior  to  any 
of  them,  while  it  stands  apart  in  ascribing  creation 
to  the  one  God;  yet  it  is  only  such  a  theory  of  the 
universe  in  its  origin  and  development  as  men 
of  ancient  times,  Hebrew  or  Chaldean,  framed  to 
account  for  the  universe  as  they  observed  it.  The 
theory  has  a  religious  but  not  a  scientific  value. ' 
The  testimony  of  the  rocks  had  to  be  taken  rather 
than  the  testimony  of  the  primitive  cosmogony, 

58 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

and  was  taken.  It  is  of  little  consequence,  so  far 
as  belief  in  God  and  the  greatness  of  man  are  con- 
cerned, whether  the  earth  and  the  vast  universe 
are  thousands  of  years  or  millions  of  years  old. 
We  could  agree  with  Augustine  that  the  world 
was  created  in  no  time;  as  he  said,  "The  world 
was  created  not  in  tempore,  but  cum  tempore.** 
"A  thousand  years  with  the  Lord  are  as  one  day; 
from  everlasting  to  everlasting  thou  art  God." 

Astronomy  has  to  do  with  space;  geology,  in  a 
large  sense,  has  to  do  with  time.  Neither  the  ex- 
tent nor  the  duration  of  the  universe  invalidates 
faith  in  God,  who  is  eternal  and  omnipresent.  The 
conclusions  of  both  sciences  were  for  a  time  op- 
posed, —  more  because  of  their  apparent  contra- 
diction of  the  first  pages  of  the  Bible,  than  for  any 
other  reason,  —  but  finally  were  accepted.  The 
reconciliations  did  not  deny  that  geology  is  cor- 
rect, but  attempted  to  show  that  the  Biblical 
story  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  scientific  story. 

The  science  of  biology,  having  to  do  with  life  on 
the  earth,  is  virtually  of  the  last  fifty  years.  The 
theory  of  the  evolution  of  higher  forms  from  lower 
forms,  of  complicated  from  simple  beings,  was 
extended  to  include  man,  a  type  derived  from 
some  intelligent  animal  which,  if  not  the  monkey, 

59 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

or  ape,  was  anthropoid:  man,  ape,  chimpanzee 
—  branches,  perhaps,  from  one  and  the  same 
trunk.  Resemblances  were  pointed  out.  It  was 
held  that  slight  differentiations  which  were  useful 
multiplied,  until  a  creature  appeared  walking 
erect,  capable  of  using  tools,  with  the  power  of 
speech;  that  these  primitive  men  were  savages, 
or  something  like  savages.  The  traces  of  prehis- 
toric men,  such  as  tools  —  first  of  stone,  then  of 
metal  —  and  rude  drawings,  indicate  a  very  low, 
undeveloped  type  of  humanity.  How  many  cen- 
turies ago  the  creature  that  might  be  called  man 
appeared  cannot  be  known,  but  it  certainly  is  more 
than  sixty  centuries;  indeed  some  ancient  civiliza- 
tions, as  the  Egyptian,  with  developed  arts,  are 
perhaps  six  thousand  years  old.  The  first  man, 
or  the  first  pair,  —  and  there  may  have  been  a 
single  pair  from  whom  all  descended,  as  there 
might  be  a  first  pair  in  any  species,  —  the  first 
pair  certainly  walked  the  earth  ever  so  long  ago. 
Epoch-making  books  were  published:  Darwin's 
"Origin  of  Species"  in  1858;  "The  Descent  of 
Man'*  in  1871.  The  method  was  held  to  be  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 
Huxley  popularized  the  theory,  and  Spencer  phi- 
losophized it,  arguing  that  in  human  ;history,  in 

60 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

the  development  and  progress  of  manj  the  same 
method  of  survival  of  the  fittest  in  the  struggle  for 
existence  obtained.  With  qualifications  which  in 
time  were  made,  such  as  recognition  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  social,  gregarious  impulses,  the  fact 
remained,  not  to  be  denied  or  ignored,  that  there 
had  been  an  age-long  process  of  the  evolution  of 
life  from  lower  to  higher  forms;  that  man  is  de- 
rived from  some  animal  type;  that  the  time  when 
man  appeared  is  far  back;  that  the  first,  the  ear- 
liest men  were  probably  savage. 

Well,  to  put  it  mildly,  religious  people,  indeed 
almost  all  people,  were  startled  and  shocked. 
Instinctively  they  rose  up  in  arms  against  the 
theory,  because  it  seemed  to  strike  at  the  very 
fniiTiHfltin^S  pf  fqitb  The  commonly  accepted 
view  was  that  God  created  species  or  types  just 
as  they  are.  The  differences  of  species  were  thus 
accounted  for.  Man,  it  was  believed,  was  a  special 
creation  of  God,  the  last  creation.  There  was  a 
first  man,  a  first  pair,  intelligent,  moral,  religious 
beings,  aware  of  God.  Man  was  created  about 
six  thousand  years  ago,  —  or,  may  be,  ten  thou- 
sand, since  the  chronology  of  Genesis  is  not  quite 
clear;  but  the  exact  time  is  not  so  important. 
Theology  seemed  to  be  based  on  this;  Calvinistic 

61 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

theology  was  based  on  it.  Adam  sinned,  he  fell, 
and  carried  down  the  human  race  which  proceeded 
from  him.  Whether  it  was  held  that  all  men  are 
constituted  sinners  by  Adam's  disobedience, 
which  suggests  heredity,  or  that  he  was  the  fed- 
eral head  and  representative  of  the  race,  it  is  all 
the  same.  The  first  chapters  of  Genesis  represent 
Adam  as  an  historical  person,  but  do  not  say  that 
the  race  sinned  in  him.  The  notion  of  Adam  was 
really  derived  from  Augustine  and  Milton  even 
more  than  from  Paul's  reference  to  Adam,  but  it 
was  firmly  and  generally  held.  Of  course  if  evo- 
lution were  true,  all  this  was  not  true. 

The  theory  of  evolution  was  derided  and  ridi- 
culed. Man's  ancestor  a  monkey,  —  absurd ! 
You  say  there  were  intermediate  forms,  missing 
links,  which  have  not  been  discovered;  but  show 
us  the  missing  links.  It  is  incredible  that  apes  and 
monkeys  have  persisted  and  higher  forms  have 
not.  You  make  man  a  mere  animal.  The  warfare 
was  intense  by  reason  of  that  which  the  theory 
seemed  to  involve. 

Evolution  is  now  accepted  by  all  intelligent 
persons.  It  is  seen  that  these  facts,  the  origin  of 
man,  slow  progress,  are  no  essential  parts  of  reli- 
gion, or  rather  are  in  no  sense  hostile  to  religion; 

62 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

that  how  man  became  what  he  is  does  not  make 
him  other  than  he  is,  a  creature  of  inteUigence, 
reason,  speech,  sense  of  obHgation,  consciousness 
of  God,  expectation  of  immortahty.  It  might  even 
be  noticed  that  the  Bible  goes  further  than  evolu- 
tion, for  it  says  that  God  made  man  out  of  the 
dust  of  the  ground.  Scientists  are  now  experi- 
menting on  the  production  of  Hfe  from  matter, 
the  organic  from  the  inorganic,  although  they 
have  not  thus  far  succeeded.  The  fact  that  man 
is  organically  related  to  the  prolonged  process  is 
accepted  without  question,  but  the  difference  of 
man  from  other  orders,  the  uniqueness  of  man  in 
intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  endowment,  is 
recognized  also.  It  is  seen  that  some  of  the  dog- 
mas of  the  creeds  are  man-made,  based  on  a  mis- 
conception of  the  way  man  arrived,  and  that  they 
are  fringes  of  doctrine,  not  essential,  vital  truths. 
H  The  theory  of  evolution,  instead  of  removing 
God  to  an  inconceivable  distance,  brought  Him 
near.  It  is  seen  that  the  derivation  of  man  from 
animals  is  as  consistent  with  a  purpose,  as  is 
separate,  instantaneous  recent  creation;  indeed, 
more  consistent  with  purpose.  A  universe  advanc- 
ing from  inorganic  to  organic,  from  matter  to  life, 
from  plant  and  animal  to  rational  creatures  able 

63 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

to  discern  the  vast  movement  and  capable  of  un- 
limited self -improvement,  is  not  accident  or  blind 
necessity,  but  is  best  understood  as  a  purpose,  not 
interjected  into  a  meaningless  universe,  but  inter- 
woven into  its  very  fiber,  into  the  warp  made  for 
the  woof,  and  showing  a  wondrous  pattern.  It 
is  seen  that  the  method  of  God's  working  is  but  a 
secondary  interest,  that  it  does  not  touch,  except 
to  strengthen,  faith  in  God  the  Father  Almighty, 
whose  children  we  are. 

The  scientific  interest  which  had  to  do  with  the 
physical  universe  and  with  origins  was  a  com- 
manding interest  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  dec- 
ades of  the  nineteenth  century,  from  1860  to  1880. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  the  ninth  and 
tenth  decades,  interest  swung  back  from  the 
universe  to  its  noblest  inhabitant,  from  the  nat- 
ural to  the  human  sciences.  That  profound  sci- 
entific interest  was  in  the  last  analysis  a  human 
interest,  for  it  was  seen  that  the  physical  sciences 
touch  directly  the  origin,  nature,  and  destination 
of  man.  Nor  was  there,  at  any  time,  suspension  of 
direct  interest  in  the  human.  The  best  poetry 
of  the  century  was  composed  by  Browning  and 
Tennyson  at  the  very  time  when  science  seemed 
to  be  changing  the  conception  of  man  and  God,  — 

64 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

partly,  indeed,  by  reason  of  that  change.  In  the 
colleges  that  poetry  was  eagerly  studied.  English 
literature  and  the  modern  languages  and  litera- 
tures of  Europe  took  a  foremost  place.  The 
classics  were  not  relinquished  for  the  sciences,  but 
the  languages  which  contain  the  history  and  liter- 
ature of  those  ancient  peoples  who  attained  the 
highest  in  art,  philosophy,  and  law  were  retained, 
and  recently  there  are  marks  of  a  revival  of  those 
classical  studies  which  are  well  called  the  human- 
ities. Economics  became  a  favorite  study :  the  his- 
torical method  was  established;  the  religions  of  the 
world  were  investigated,  and  the  Bible  recovered 
by  criticism  as  the  literature  of  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity, the  greatest  literature  of  the  world.  The- 
ology no  longer  regards  man  as  totally  depraved, 
worthless,  and  wickeclTbut  in  view  of  his  develop- 
ment sees  his  greatness,  sees  him  as  incomplete 
and  imperfect,  and  directs,  guides,  inspires,  into 
the  ideal  life.  This  inspiration  has  come,  in  large 
part,  from  knowledge  of  many-sided  man,  of  the 
history  of  men,  of  their  attainments,  of  their  pos- 
sibilities. 

Evolution  has  won,  and  there  is  no  more  debate 
about  it;  has  won  us  so  completely  that  we  do  not 
think  of  it,  as  we  do  not  think  of  gravitation.  It 

65 


A   CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

has  not  taken  away  reason,  or  freedom,  or  con- 
science, or  religion.  The  "how"  does  not  diminish 
the  "what,"  but  is  only  a  description  of  the  steps, 
the  degrees,  the  mode  of  ascent  from  lower  to 
higher. 

Evolution  banishing  the  Adam  of  theology  and 
substituting  primitive  man  a  little  higher  than  the 
animals,  does  not  banish  that  for  which  the  doc- 
trine of  the  fall  of  Adam  stood;  it  does  not  banish 
sin.  Sin,  however  defined,  —  and  it  makes  little 
difference  how,  whether  as  selfishness,  as  the  in- 
dulgence of  the  sensual  passions,  as  preference  of 
the  lower  to  the  higher,  —  sin  is  a  perversion  of 
the  moral  nature.  And  it  has  a  kind  of  univer- 
sality. It  is  generally  assumed  that  society  needs 
reformation  in  various  relations,  and  society  is  the 
persons  who  compose  it.  Many  expend  their 
energy  on  industrial  reform:  they  trace  nearly  all 
existing  evils  to  selfish  competition,  which  creates 
huge  monopolies  and  trusts,  and  which  makes  the 
laborer  the  last  rather  than  the  first  partaker  of 
the  fruits;  poverty,  intemperance,  crime,  short- 
ened lives,  and  in  fact  nearly  all  evils,  are  traced 
to  the  encroachment  of  profit  upon  wages.  Others 
are  devoted  to  the  reform  of  the  family:  they  find 
in  frequent  divorce,  in  hasty  and  ill-assorted 

66 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

marriages,  in  the  displacement  of  the  home  by 
tenements  and  boarding-houses,  in  the  prevalence 
of  licentiousness,  which  is  fatal  to  domestic  purity 
and  a  preventive  of  marriage,  the  root  of  all  kinds 
of  evil.  Others  still  find  in  political  and  municipal 
corruption  a  crying  evil.  There  are  wrongs,  in- 
justices, and  perversions  which  infest  civilized 
society.  Then  there  are  down-trodden  races;  op- 
pression, cruelty,  injustice.  The  commanding 
interests  of  life  are  needed  readjustments,  puri- 
fications, reforms  of  morals,  customs,  manners. 
The  progress  which  is  needed  and  expected  is  the 
correction  of  wrongs. 

Furthermore,  the  case  is  not  that  part  of  the 
world  is  entirely  right  and  part  entirely  wrong, 
but  that  every  one  fails,  in  some  measure,  to 
practice  the  right  he  perceives  and  approves.  We 
assume  and  believe  that  every  one  has  some  moral 
taint,  that  the  best  men  are  not  free  from  faults. 
We  do  not  believe  that  all  men  are  totally  de- 
praved; but  depravity,  which  is  crookedness, 
deviation  from  the  straight  or  right  line,  is  uni- 
versal, for  no  one  is  perfectly  conformed  to  the 
ideal.  There  is  a  bright  side  to  this  view.  How 
do  we  know  that  acts  and  thoughts  are  sinful  .'* 
How  do  we  happen  to  have  the  word  sin?  Ani- 

67 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

mals  do  not  sin.  Is  it  not  because  we  perceive  an 
ideal,  and  know  ourselves  capable  of  approaching 
it?  Evolution  has  nothing  to  say  against  the  fact 
that  men  do  wrong.  Evolution,  before  it  reaches 
man,  finds  reversion.  As  plants  and  animals  have 
diseases  which  are  abnormal  and  which  impair 
or  destroy  the  normal  type,  so  there  is  moral 
disease  which  invades  and  corrupts  the  ideal 
character.  Whether  avoidable  or  not,  is  a  ques- 
tion which  pertains  to  personahty;  whether  actual 
or  not,  is  a  question  that  does  not  even  arise.  Sin 
is  degeneration  —  a  very  good  name  for  it,  since 
it  means  departure  from  the  genus.  Degeneration 
is  that  which  is  away  from  the  genus,  the  type.  It 
has  in  view  an  ideal,  a  normal  type  departed  from. 
It  is  frequently  used  by  evolution,  since  degenera- 
tion is  found  in  orders  below  the  human.  Chris- 
tianity implies  it  in  a  term  which  has  passed  from 
the  Scriptures  to  theology  and  is  its  exact  coun- 
terpart, namely,  regeneration. 

Degeneration  may  impair  without  destroying 
the  moral  powers,  as  disease  may  exist  without 
producing  death.  Observation  shows  every  de- 
gree of  degeneration.  Some  men  seem  to  have  no 
vulnerable  point,  other  men  seem  to  have  no  in- 
vulnerable point.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether 

68 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

either  extreme  actually  exists.  The  best  men  have 
at  least  the  defects  of  their  virtues,  and  the  worst 
men  have  redeeming  qualities.  The  fact  that  the 
worst  men  have  some  vestiges  of  goodness,  signi- 
fies power  of  recovery.  Some  regard  for  right 
remains;  there  is  sense  of  obligation;  some  self- 
accusation,  some  aspiration  toward  the  ideal; 
some  conscious  discontent.  Were  there  no  knowl- 
edge of  right  and  wrong,  man  would  cease  to  be  a 
moral  being;  he  might  be  miserable,  but  he  would 
not  be  man.  In  his  moral  principles  and  convic- 
tions is  the  power  of  recovery  to  his  ideal.  So  long 
as  men,  however  degenerate,  hear  the  call  to  be 
better  men,  they  have  the  power  to  be  better. 
Jesus,  who  knew  what  was  in  man,  told  his  dis- 
ciples to  despair  of  nobody.  So,  I  repeat,  evolu- 
tion, banishing  the  Adam  of  theology,  did  not 
rule  out  that  for  which  the  fall  of  Adam  stood. 
The  scriptural  truth  is  that  man  made  wrong 
choices  very  early,  say  at  the  beginning,  and  that 
these  choices  brought  many  evils  upon  him.  He 
was  in  a  state  of  simplicity;  he  was  unclothed, 
and  after  a  time  wore  skins  of  animals;  he  was 
tempted  and  did  wrong;  a  crisis  discovered  him  to 
himself  as  a  moral  being.  But  he  made  progress; 
he  practiced  some  virtues;  he  tilled  the  ground. 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

gained  knowledge,  built  cities,  formed  govern- 
ments. He  was  a  creature  of  good  and  bad  im- 
pulses. At  times  he  yielded  to  the  lower  and 
became  very  bad  indeed.  At  times  he  attained 
goodness  and  made  considerable  progress.  The 
story  is  true  to  human  nature  and  human 
history.  Every  one  comes  to  a  moral  crisis.  And 
power  for  goodness  remains.  The  progress  of 
man  is  measured  up  by  evolution  on  the  scale  of 
his  moral  as  well  as  of  his  intellectual  stature.^ 

Evolution,  it  was  thought,  makes  it  impossible 
to  believe  in  miracles  and  the  supernatural.  It 
would  be  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  evolution 
extended  the  realm  of  natural  law,  for  science  had 
long  before  discovered  the  universality  of  the  laws 
of  nature.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  Bible 
nowhere  uses  the  term  "supernatural."  It  says 
nothing  of  interruptions  or  contradictions  of  the 
laws  of  nature.  All  things,  usual  and  unusual,  are 
regarded  as  manifestations  of  the  power  of  God. 
No  distinction  is  made  between  the  natural  and 
the  supernatural.  When  the  laws  of  nature  were 
known,  the  conception  of  God's  relation  to  the 
universe  was  changed.  Then  came  the  theory  of 

*  Some  paragraphs  and  sentences  in  this  chapter  and  in  follow- 
ing chapters  are  taken  from  the  author's  book  Moral  Evolution. 

70 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

second  causes;  God  outside  the  universe,  which 
went  along  of  itself,  God  now  and  then  interven- 
ing. The  unusual,  not  accounted  for  by  law,  was 
the  supernatural.  The  miracles  of  the  Bible  were 
so  regarded.  But  when  the  conception  of  the 
universe  as  mechanism  running  in  grooves  by  the 
agency  of  second  causes,  gives  place  to  the  con- 
ception of  the  universe  as  organism  throbbing 
with  force  and  life,  nature  in  all  its  movements  is 
regarded  as  having  its  power  and  law  in  God,  and 
the  supernatural,  if  the  term  is  retained,  signifies 
the  higher  revelations  of  God  in  Christ,  rather 
than  that  which  over-rides  or  interrupts  the  proc- 
esses of  natural  law. 

Probably  some  of  the  accounts  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, such  as  the  sun  standing  still,  the  un- 
scathed men  in  the  fiery  furnace,  are  later  picto- 
rial descriptions  of  unusual  but  natural  events, 
and  some  of  them  stories  or  inventions.  Health- 
power,  exercised  in  the  restoration  of  the  sick, 
in  the  resuscitation  of  a  body  apparently  dead,  is 
confirmed  by  manifestations  of  similar  power  in 
our  own  times,  a  power  we  do  not  understand, 
but  cannot  deny. 

It  is  entirely  credible  that  Jesus  did  many  of 
the  things  ascribed  to  Him.   The  narratives  fall 

71 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

to  pieces  if  his  beneficent  healings  are  torn  out. 
They  were  unusual  deeds;  but  Jesus  was  an  un- 
usual person.  He  who  was  the  purest  and  holiest 
man  who  ever  lived  had  health-power  by  which 
He  could  cure  diseases  of  body  and  mind.  His 
miracles  were  not  effects  without  causes,  but 
unique  effects,  produced  by  a  unique  person.  The 
motive  was  benevolence,  never  display.  Jesus  at- 
tributed only  secondary  importance  to  the  cures 
and  miracles  He  performed.  He  wished  to  be  be- 
lieved for  himseK  and  his  truth.  The  power  of 
Jesus  over  physical  nature,  as  shown  in  the  stilling 
of  the  tempest,  the  multiplication  of  loaves,  the 
draught  of  fishes,  are  not  so  intelligible,  and,  if 
they  stood  alone,  we  might  be  incredulous;  al- 
though the  draught  of  fishes  and  the  sudden  calm 
are  not,  in  themselves,  miraculous  events.  The 
nature-miracles,  so  called,  are  few,  and  are  not 
important  for  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  life 
and  teachings  of  Jesus.  Whatever  occurred  was 
the  exercise  of  a  beneficence  in  keeping  with  his 
gracious  purposes.  Of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus, 
I  shall  speak  in  the  chapter  on  "The  Person  of 
Jesus  Christ.'* 
^  Knowledge  of  man's  origin  and  structure  does 
not  reduce  him  to  a  physical  level,  but  raises 

72 


EVOLUTION  AND  THEOLOGY 

him  to  an  intellectual,  moral,  spiritual  level.  It 
does  banish  certain  opinions  concerning  primitive 
man,  but  it  does  not  banish  man,  or  deny  that  he 
is  the  crown  of  creation,  or  deny  divine  intelli- 
gence, realizing  purpose. 


CHAPTER  IV 

BIBLICAL   CRITICISM 

A  CENTURY  ago  the  Bible  was  held  in  sacred  re- 
gard. Not  only  was  it  the  only  perfect  rule  of 
faith  and  practice,  but  it  was  believed  to  be  in  its 
every  part  inerrant  and  infallible.  As  the  Jews 
beHeved  their  Scriptures,  our  Old  Testament,  to 
be  inspired  throughout,  even  to  the  vowel  points, 
so  Protestants  of  the  eighteenth  and  well  on  into 
the  nineteenth  century  believed  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  to  be  infallible  and  inerrant.  What- 
ever is  in  the  Bible  is  true;  whatever  can  be  ex- 
tracted from  the  Bible  is  true  doctrine;  to  question 
any  statement  of  the  Bible  is  sacrilegious.  Such 
was  the  popular  theory  of  the  origin  and  nature 
of  the  sacred  writings.  There  was  a  sort  of  magic 
in  these  writings;  the  reading  of  any  portion  of  the 
book  had  a  religious  value. 

The  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century 
brought  the  results  of  historical,  or,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  "higher  criticism,"  home  to  the 
people.  Textual  criticism  had  proceeded  for  many 

74 


BIBLICAL  CRITICISM 

years  without  creating  disturbance.  It  was  well 
known  that  the  English  Bible  is  a  translation,  and 
that  the  meaning  of  passages  might  not  in  all 
cases  be  correctly  rendered.  Bibles  with  marginal 
readings  which  substituted  a  word  or  a  phrase 
here  and  there  were  published  and  used.  Preach- 
ers would  say  that  this  or  that  word  in  the  original 
is  different  and  more  suggestive,  as,  that  the  word 
"charity,"  in  1  Cor.  xiii,  is  "love. "  Indeed,  peo- 
ple became  rather  tired  of  being  told  what  it  is 
in  the  original.  It  was  deemed  of  the  first  impor- 
tance that  preachers  be  familiar  with  the  Hebrew 
and  Greek  testaments,  and  in  all  theological  sem- 
inaries these  disciplines  had  a  large  way.  The 
theory  of  inerrancy  was  a  belief,  not  that  the 
translations,  but  that  the  original  writings,  were 
inerrant,  and  that,  if  there  appear  to  be  discrep- 
ancies or  even  errors  in  those  writings,  it  is  due 
to  copying,  since  we  do  not  possess  the  original 
writings  themselves.  At  all  events,  textual  criti- 
cism had  from  the  time  of  Erasmus  had  a  clear 
way,  and  the  people  had  enjoyed  its  fruits. 

Higher  criticism,  or  historical  criticism,  has  to 
do  with  the  authorship  of  the  several  books  of  the 
Bible,  with  the  dates  of  writings,  with  historical 
correctness,  with  the  genuineness  of  passages, 

75 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

with  interpolations,  with  the  order  of  events,  — 
in  a  word,  it  treats  the  Bible  as  any  ancient  liter- 
ature is  treated.  Historical  criticism  is  of  the 
latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Not  that 
there  was  no  such  thing  before,  but  that  it  gained 
complete  results  then,  and  that  the  results  were 
known.  It  was  not  popularized  as  evolution  was; 
yet  it  was  known  that  the  traditional  view  of 
authorship,  of  the  development  of  the  religious 
history  of  the  Jews,  of  the  earlier  books  of  the 
Bible,  of  the  historical  value  of  some  portions, 
was  modified,  and  there  was  a  sense  of  uneasiness, 
almost  as  though  the  Bible  might  be  lost. 

Now,  one  cannot  regard  this  knowledge  as  de- 
structive of  the  value  of  the  Bible,  since  a  theory 
as  to  its  construction  does  not  affect  the  truth  it 
contains.  Indeed,  the  belief  that  the  Bible  is  in- 
fallible and  inerrant  is  not  a  religious  belief.  It  is 
a  comparatively  modern,  a  recent  belief,  making 
a  great  claim  for  the  earthen  vessel,  as  well  as  for 
the  treasure  it  contains.  Yet  since  many  believed 
that  the  Bible  is  without  errors  or  mistakes  in 
any  particular;  that  the  sixty-six  books,  compris- 
ing traditions,  history,  biography,  poetry,  letters, 
prophecies,  discourses,  maxims,  written  by  as 
many  or  more  writers  of  different  centuries,  are 

76 


BIBLICAL  CRITICISM 

absolutely  free  from  error,  it  was  a  kind  of  a  shock 
to  be  told  that  there  are  some  errors:  that  some 
books  were  not  composed  by  the  authors  to  whom 
they  had  been  attributed;  that  the  first  five  books 
were  not  written  by  one  person,  and  only  a  very 
few  of  the  psalms  by  David;  that  the  Levitical 
ritual  was  not  practiced  in  the  wilderness,  or  till 
centuries  after;  that  the  account  of  Jonah  is  a 
parable  or  story;  that  there  are  some  discrepancies 
in  records  of  the  life  of  Jesus;  that  the  fourth 
gospel  is  of  the  second  century;  and  so  on.  It  did 
not  make  so  much  difference  what  the  errors  were, 
or  how  trivial  they  were;  the  admission  of  any 
error  seemed  fatal  to  the  authority  of  the  Bible. 
"If  you  begin,  where  will  you  end?" 

I  said  that  historical  criticism  is  of  the  latter 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  as  to  knowledge  of 
it  by  the  people  and  the  alarm  it  produced.  This 
might  be  illustrated  by  quoting  the  introduction 
of  a  paper  that  I  read  before  a  Congregational 
Club  in  New  York  in  1891:  — 

We  were  bravely  over  our  fright  from  evolution  and 
were  beginning  to  breathe  easier;  but,  before  we  are 
fairly  rested,  we  are  taking  new  alarm  from  Biblical 
criticism.  The  old  saying  is  reversed  and  there  is  no 
peace  to  the  righteous.   Christianity,  it  is  sometimes 

77 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

said,  has  survived  Copernicanism  and  Darwinism  and 
need  have  no  other  fear.  It  would  be  nearer  the  truth 
to  say  that  Christianity  has  absorbed  Copernicanism 
and  Darwinism;  the  former  enlarging  our  thoughts  to 
the  vast  spaces  of  God's  universe;  the  latter  gaining  all 
the  time  that  was  needed  for  God  to  work  out  His 
mighty  plan.  It  has  been  a  survival,  indeed,  but  not 
through  surrender  and  loss;  it  has  been  a  survival 
through  growth  and  gain.  And  now  we  are  in  a  flurry 
about  our  sacred  writings,  scarcely  daring  to  hope  that 
the  religion  they  record  and  interpret  will  come  forth 
as  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  brighter  and  purer,  but  fearing 
rather  that  there  will  be  increasing  uncertainty  as  to 
the  original  facts  of  both  the  Hebrew  and  Christian 
religions. 

This  was  in  1891,  not  yet  twenty-five  years  ago, 
and  indicates  a  state  of  mind  which  did  then  exist. 
It  was  after  1891  that  two  professors  in  Presby- 
terian theological  seminaries  were  tried  for  heresy 
on  the  ground  of  teaching  that  the  Bible  is  not 
inerrant.  One  was  removed  from  office,  and  the 
other  suspended  from  the  Presbyterian  ministry. 

But  now  alarm  has  subsided.  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  find  an  intelligent  person  who  holds  to  the 
inerrancy  of  all  parts  of  the  Bible,  or  who  is  dis- 
turbed by  the  modifications  and  readjustments 
of  criticism.  Indeed,  it  is  a  great  relief  to  know 
that  some  statements  are  not  true;   that  some 

78 


BIBLICAL  CRITICISM 

accounts,  especially  of  the  Old  Testament,  have 
not  an  historical  value.  The  fact  is  that  too  much 
had  been  claimed  for  the  Bible  for  about  two 
centuries,  and  it  was  this  excessive  claim  that  was 
abated.  But  the  real  values  of  the  Bible  were  not 
taken  away.  Criticism  did  not  take  away  the 
Christ,  his  life,  his  teaching,  his  sacrifice,  his  reve- 
lation of  the  love  of  God.  Nor  did  it  take  away 
the  message  of  Israel,  the  message  that  there  is 
only  one  living  and  true  and  righteous  God;  the 
message  that  religion  is  to  do  justly  and  love 
mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  God.  We  are 
accustomed  to  think  that  the  Reformation  set  up 
the  Bible  as  the  supreme  and  only  authority  in 
religion  and  denied  the  authority  of  the  Church; 
and,  in  a  large  sense,  that  is  true;  yet  the  authority 
claimed  by  the  Church  was  authority  to  interpret 
the  Bible  and  tradition;  only  the  judgment  of 
the  Church  was  set  above  the  judgment  of  the 
individual.  The  Reformation  asserted  the  right 
of  private  judgment,  exalted  the  individual,  gave 
intellectual  freedom.  The  individual  interprets 
the  Bible  for  himself.  But  the  reformers  had  no 
theory  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible  in  its  every 
part.  Luther,  whose  theology  was  Pauline,  did 
not  like  James;  he  said  it  was  a  matter  of  indif- 

79 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

ference   who   wrote    the   Pentateuch,   and   that 
Chronicles  is  less  credible  than  Kings. 

Moreover,  the  Bible  had  not  been  translated 
into  the  language  of  the  common  people.  The 
greatest  boon  of  the  Reformation  was  the  Bible 
in  the  vernacular.  Wiclif  translated  it  from  the 
Vulgate  in  1382.  Luther  translated  the  New  Tes- 
tament from  the  Greek  in  1521,  and  his  Old 
Testament,  from  the  Hebrew,  was  issued  in  1534. 

His  concealment  in  the  Wartburg  is  chiefly  remark- 
able for  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  begun  in 
December,  1521,  completed  in  three  months,  and  issued 
from  the  press  in  the  following  September.  The  trans- 
lation of  the  Old  Testament  was  gradually  accom- 
plished by  Luther  and  his  associates,  after  his  return 
from  the  Wartburg  to  Wittenberg,  and  the  whole  Bible 
in  Luther's  version  was  published  in  1534,  by  which 
time  no  less  than  eighty-five  editions  of  his  New 
Testament  had  been  put  forth.  .  .  .  Luther  was  far 
from  being  the  first  to  translate  the  Scriptures  into 
German.  No  less  than  eighteen  times  had  the  whole 
Bible  been  printed  in  German  or  Dutch,  but  the 
earlier  translation  was  mechanical  and  followed  the 
Vulgate  rather  than  the  Greek  and  Hebrew.  It  was 
Luther's  distinction  as  a  translator  to  be  a  master  of 
the  German  tongue  such  as  none  before  him  had  been. 
As  he  expressed  it,  he  made  the  apostles  and  prophets 
speak  German.  .  .  .  None  can  deny  his  striking  abili- 
ties as  a  translator,  or  the  great  impetus,  not  merely 

80 


BIBLICAL  CRITICISM 

towards  a  popular  acquaintance  with  the  Bible,  but 
toward  Evangelical  conceptions  of  Christianity  which 
his  translation  gave.* 

There  was,  I  say,  no  theory  of  infallibility.  The 
Reformers  held  that  the  Bible  contained  the  word 
of  God.  In  the  creeds  and  confession  of  the  Re- 
formation period  are  excellent  statements  about 
the  Bible.  The  Westminster  Confession  in  1646 
has  a  fine  article  upon  it:  — 

We  may  be  moved  and  induced  by  the  testimony 
of  the  Church  to  a  high  and  reverent  esteem  for  the 
Holy  Scripture;  and  the  heavenliness  of  the  matter,  the 
efficacy  of  the  doctrine,  the  majesty  of  the  style,  the 
consent  of  all  the  parts,  the  scope  of  the  whole  (which 
is  to  give  glory  to  God),  the  full  discovery  it  makes  of 
the  only  way  of  man's  salvation,  the  many  other 
incomparable  excellences,  and  the  entire  perfection 
thereof,  are  arguments  whereby  it  doth  abundantly 
evidence  itself  to  be  the  word  of  God;  yet,  notwith- 
standing, our  full  persuasion  and  assurance  of  the 
infallible  truth  and  divine  authority  thereof  is  from 
the  inward  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  bearing  witness  by 
and  with  the  word  in  our  hearts. 

To  be  sure  the  words  "perfection"  and  "infal- 
Kble"  are  used,  but  it  is  with  the  significance 
of  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  truth  which  the 
Bible  contains. 

^  Williston  Walker,  The  Reformation,  pp.  122,  123. 

81 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Even  when  the  theory  of  infallibility  was  held, 
degrees  of  value  were  recognized.  The  Levitical 
ritual  was  not  as  valuable  as  the  Gospel;  the 
appointments  of  the  tabernacle  detailed  in  ten 
chapters  of  Exodus  not  as  important  as  the  pro- 
phecies of  Isaiah,  or  as  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans; 
the  genealogy  of  the  Patriarchs  not  as  signiJBcant 
as  the  Gospel  of  John.  The  Jews  grouped  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  in  order  of  sacred- 
ness  in  three  principal  divisions,  —  the  Law,  the 
Prophets,  and  the  Hagiographa.  Christians  hold- 
ing the  hard  and  fast  theory  of  the  inerrancy  of 
the  Bible  yet  preferred  some  books  above  others, 
had  favorite  passages,  even  spoke  of  the  gems 
of  the  Bible,  as,  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the 
parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  Paul's  tribute  to 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Love.  A  preacher  I  heard  in 
1868  told  of  visiting  an  aged  woman  who,  look- 
ing up  over  her  spectacles,  said,  "There  is  excel- 
lent reading  in  John."  "The  Bible  jfinds  me," 
said  Coleridge,  but  he  did  not  mean  that  he 
could  dip  into  it  anywhere  at  random  and  be 
found.  So  the  preacher  discriminated,  choosing 
the  great  truths  of  the  spiritual  life  and  passing 
by  the  local  and  temporary. 

The  Bible  makes  no  claim  of  inerrancy  for  it- 
82 


BIBLICAL  CRITICISM 

self.  It  was  indeed  thought  that  a  sentence  in  one 
of  the  letters  to  Timothy  makes  that  claim:  "All 
scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God  and  is 
profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness."  The  reference 
was  to  the  Old  Testament,  since  the  gospels  and 
most  of  the  epistles  had  not  been  written,  and 
then  the  corrected  reading  is,  not  that  all  scrip- 
ture is  inspired  of  God,  but,  every  scripture  in- 
spired of  God  is  also  profitable.  However,  the 
theory  was  tenaciously  held,  but  it  gave  occasion 
to  skepticism.  You  say  the  Bible  is  true,  that  it 
contains  no  errors;  I  do  not  believe  the  story  of 
Jonah,  or  of  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den,  or  of  the 
three  men  in  the  fiery  furnace;  your  Bible  is  not 
true. 

The  theory  imperiled  the  Bible,  for  it  staked  the 
authority  of  the  Bible  on  any  single  item.  Some 
of  the  Protestant  sects  sprang  into  existence  on 
the  literal  interpretation  of  a  single  text.  A  rite,  a 
form  of  government,  a  prediction  of  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  this  or  that  secondary  thing, 
supposed  to  be  given  in  the  Bible,  have  made 
lines  of  cleavage  into  particular  sects.  Sectarian- 
ism flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  as  many  as  twenty  new  sects  arose. 

83 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Many  of  them  continue,  simply  because  they  have 
been  established,  but  it  is  significant  that  in  the 
last  forty  or  fifty  years  no  new  sect  has  arisen. 

It  really  is  a  tremendous  gain,  this  abandon- 
ment of  the  literal  perfection  of  the  Bible,  for  it  is 
the  magnifying  of  the  real  values  of  the  Bible.  It 
is,  in  a  way,  a  recovery  of  the  Bible  as  containing 
the  word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  for- 
ever, as  a  record  of  the  life,  teaching  and  sacrifice 
of  Him  who  was  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son 
of  man. 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  whole  of  the 
Bible  and  the  Bible  as  a  whole.  The  whole  of  the  Bible 
is  not  authoritative,  but  the  Bible  as  a  whole  is.  The 
whole  of  the  Bible  is  not  authoritative,  the  soul  of  the 
Bible  is.  The  final  authority  is  the  gospel  in  the  Bible, 
which  is  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  as  crucified.^ 

Our  conviction  of  the  truth  of  Christianity  does 
not  rest  on  the  authority  and  inspiration  of  the 
book  which  contains  it,  but  our  exalted  opinion 
of  the  book  is  a  consequence  of  the  value  of  its 
truth.  Our  Bible  will  not  suffer  if  it  rests  on  the 
basis  of  Christianity  itself,  but  our  faith  in  Chris- 
tianity might  suffer  if  we  invert  the  pyramid  and 

*  George  P.  Fisher,  "The  Evangelical  Principle  of  Authority"; 
Address  before  the  International  Congregational  Council,  1893. 

84 


BIBLICAL  CRITICISM 

rest  our  belief  in  the  Gospel  on  the  absolute  accu- 
racy of  every  part  of  the  Bible,  which  is  merely 
given  to  record  the  gospel.  The  letter  killeth,  but 
the  spirit  giveth  life. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

**  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved,"  is  the  Gospel,  is  Christianity. 
An  apostle  said:  "I  know  whom  I  have  believed"; 
meaning,  I  know  who  He  is,  what  He  is,  what  He 
did.  Christians  of  all  the  centuries  have  regarded 
Jesus  as  Master,  or  Lord,  and  Saviour,  and  have 
so  regarded  Him  in  view  of  what  He  did.  Always 
there  has  been  the  belief  that  the  man  who  spoke 
as  He  spoke,  and  wrought  the  works  that  He 
wrought,  was  more  than  man,  was  so  related  to 
God  as  to  be,  in  a  profound  sense,  Divine. 

This  belief  found  expression  very  early  in  creeds 
and  formularies  which  declared  and  emphasized 
the  divinity  of  Christ.  The  Apostles'  Creed  of 
the  second  century,  epitomizing  great  facts,  im- 
plies his  divine  nature,  in  his  miraculous  birth, 
his  resurrection  and  ascension,  his  sitting  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty,  from 
whence  He  shall  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the 
dead.  The  Nicene  Creed  of  the  fourth  century 

86 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

emphatically  ascribed  divinity  to  Jesus;  "Light  of 
Hght,  very  God  of  very  God."  The  belief  is  that 
it  is  God  himself  who  redeems  sinners;  that  the 
Christ  who  for  us  men  and  our  salvation  endured 
the  bitter  cross,  is  the  Son  of  God,  the  Eternal 
Son,  who  was  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father.  This  is 
a  stupendous  belief,  surely;  yet  it  is  the  belief 
that  laid  hold  of  men,  —  the  belief  that  God  made 
his  great  way  to  the  children  of  men  in  love  and 
sacrifice  to  recover  them  to  himself  as  children  of 
God. 

A  century  ago  it  was  the  common  belief  that 
Jesus  was  God,  "that  there  are  three  persons  in 
the  God-Head,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  these  three  are  one  God,  the  same  in 
substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory."  While  the- 
ologians disclaimed  a  mathematical  Trinity,  say- 
ing that  there  are  not  three  Gods,  but  one  God, 
they  believed  that  Jesus,  when  He  was  on  the 
earth,  had  all  the  attributes  of  God,  that  He  was 
omniscient  and  omnipresent. 

In  the  last  fifty  years,  speaking  broadly,  a 
change  has  occurred  which  is  not  so  much  a  re- 
linquishment of  the  divinity  as  a  recovery  of  the 
humanity  of  Christ,  and  so  a  better  conception  of 
his  person.  What  was  the  church  asking  down  to 

87 


'  A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

fifty  years  ago?  She  asked,  concerning  Christ, 
how  can  the  divine  be  human?  How  can  God  be 
real  man?  Christ  was  Divine,  was  God,  was  Deity, 
to  the  Church.  She  looked  with  suspicion  on  any 
recognition  of  his  real  humanity.  She  regarded 
Him  as  omniscient  and  omnipotent.  She  divided 
the  divine  from  the  human,  thinking,  or  trying  to 
think,  that  He  acted  now  in  his  divine,  now  in  his 
human  nature;  as  though  when  He  worked  mira- 
cles He  was  divine,  and  when  He  was  hungry  and 
weary  and  when  He  prayed,  He  was  human,  — 
like  two  spheres  having  external  contact  only. 
For  centuries  the  Church  had  been  struggling  to 
save  the  divine  at  the  expense  of  the  human,  and 
had  made  the  human  unreal,  incidental,  a  mere 
semblance.  I  do  not  say  that  the  humanity  of 
Christ  had  always  been  ignored.  The  Apostolic 
and  early  church,  and,  for  a  long  time,  the  Greek 
fathers,  saw  divinity  in  and  through  humanity. 
But  in  later  times,  for  several  centuries,  the  pre- 
vailing belief  was  like  ancient  Docetism,  which 
regarded  the  human  as  only  an  appearance  or 
seeming,  or  at  most  a  mere  garment  of  divinity. 
In  deadly  opposition  to  Unitarians,  who,  as  the 
Orthodox  said,  regarded  Jesus  as  a  mere  man, 
emphasis  was  laid  on  the  divinity  of  Christ.  To 

88 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

the  Unitarians  Jesus  was  all  human;  to  the  Trini- 
tarians therefore  Jesus  was  all  divine.  And,  apart 
from  controversy,  the  humanity  of  Christ,  while 
not  denied,  was  ignored.  He  was  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh;  but,  over  and  above  all.  He  was  God. 
Toward  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 
a  book,  which  startled  and  alarmed  the  Christian 
world,  was  published.  It  was  Strauss's  "Life  of 
Jesus,"  a  biography,  like  the  biography  of  any 
great  man.  But  it  led  Christian  scholars  to  in- 
vestigation of  the  story.  Volume  after  volume 
entitled  "The  Life  of  Christ,"  or  "The  Life  of 
Jesus,"  appeared.  Preaching  presented  the  hu- 
man in  place  of  the  theologic  Christ.  And  now, 
although  there  are  many  who  retain  the  old  view, 
the  theologians,  thinkers,  scholars  of  the  Church, 
believe  that  Christ  was  under  the  actual  Hmita- 
tions  of  human  nature.  He  gained  information  as 
other  men  did;  He  shared  the  opinions  of  his  times 
as  to  the  universe,  and  in  other  essential  respects 
was  truly  human.  He  had  wonderful  insight,  — 
moral  and  spiritual  insight,  —  but  He  did  not 
have  omniscience.  Theology  starts  now  with  the 
historical,  human  person,  and  finds  divinity  in 
that  which  transcends  human  nature,  especially 
in  his  moral  perfection,  in  his  oneness  with  God,  in 

89 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

his  Sonship,  in  his  health-power,  in  his  revelation 
of  the  character  of  God.  The  great  majority  of 
Christians  could  never  be  satisfied  with  a  purely 
humanitarian  doctrine  of  the  person  of  Christ. 
But  now  He  is  believed  in  as  the  human  incarna- 
tion and  revelation  of  the  love  of  God  and  as  the 
inspiration  of  a  new  life.  I  said  the  question  was, 
how  can  the  divine  be  human  .f*  To-day  the  ques- 
tion is  reversed.  We  ask  now,  How  can  the  human 
be  divine.''  How  can  a  man  be  God?  Yet  it  is  not 
a  question,  for  we  know  the  divine  through  the 
human.  God  can  reveal  himself  best  in  a  per- 
fect man.  Jesus  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  We 
do  not  attempt  to  define  the  interior  nature  of 
God,  while  we  know  Him  as  the  Almighty  Father, 
as  the  God  of  love,  revealed  in  Christ,  and  as  the 
indwelling  Spirit.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is 
a  symbol  of  the  various  aspects  of  God. 

Christ  reveals  God  as  the  all  -  merciful,  all- 
loving  Father.  We  have  this  idea  of  God  and  we 
have  it  from  Christ,  from  what  He  said,  from  what 
He  did,  from  what  He  was.  It  is  a  fact,  however 
explained,  that  He  changed  the  human  conception 
of  God.  He  did  not  set  aside  all  existing  concep- 
tions, for  part  of  the  truth  men  had  spelled  out 
from  the  volumes  of  nature  and  of  human  life; 

90 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

but  He  revealed  the  complete  truth,  He  opened 
the  wholeness  of  the  truth.  This  He  did,  not  by 
inference  of  philosophy,  nor  by  a  broad  view  of 
history.  Beliefs  gained  in  that  way  could  be  chal- 
lenged on  the  same  grounds.  The  course  of  his- 
tory does  not  run  in  one  direction.  There  are 
strife,  cruelty,  caprice,  as  well  as  prosperity  and 
happiness.  If  the  word  "Father"  crossed  the  lips 
of  some  prophet,  the  mysterious  facts  of  life  and 
the  conflicting  movements  of  history  weakened 
the  hope.  Jesus  revealed  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 
Turn  from  the  Old  to  the  New  Testament  and 
observe  the  frequency  with  which  the  designation 
of  God  as  Father  appears.  Conspicuously  absent 
from  the  Old,  it  is  on  almost  every  page  of  the 
New  Scriptures.  It  permeates  the  new  faith 
through  and  through.  Now  only  one  answer  can 
be  given  to  the  question,  how  the  belief  in  God's 
Fatherhood  was  inspired.  It  came  from  Jesus, 
and  it  was  from  the  life  of  Jesus,  as  much  as  from 
his  words.  His  words  were  but  the  expression  of 
his  very  being  as  the  Son  of  God.  There  was  the 
mystery  and  also  the  beauty,  there  was  the  attract- 
ing, almost  the  compelling,  power  of  the  life.  His 
words,  his  trust,  his  vision,  his  judgments  upon 
wrong,  his  sympathy,  his  character,  his  whole  life, 

91 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

his  very  self  were  proclamatory  of  the  life  of  God 
in  Him.  Those  who  knew  Him  saw  that  He  was 
ever  coming  forth  from  God.  That  word  of  his, 
"He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father," 
was  a  word  of  reality.  So  was  that  other  word,  "I 
and  the  Father  are  one."  All  that  came  to  the 
surface,  in  expression,  words  spoken,  deeds  done, 
indignities  endured,  ignominious  death  braved, 
all  welled  up  out  of  his  consciousness  of  God  his 
Father,  living  in  Him,  speaking  and  working 
through  Him,  shining  out  in  the  relation  of  Fa- 
therhood and  Sonship.  The  Son,  He  said,  can  do 
nothing  of  himself  but  what  He  seeth  the  Father 
doing,  for  what  things  soever  He  doeth  these  the 
Son  also  doeth  in  like  manner.  From  Jesus  came 
the  belief  in  Fatherhood.  He  vitalized  it  just  by 
being  in  the  world  and  living  out  that  life  of  un- 
broken union  with  the  Father. 

Another  point  of  view  is  the  influence  of  Jesus 
on  humanity.  He  is  the  producer  of  a  new  type, 
—  it  may  almost  be  said,  of  a  new  humanity.  His 
work  in  personal  character  amounts  to  a  creation. 
The  writings  of  Paul  are  largely  occupied  with  a 
delineation  of  the  new  character.  Something  rev- 
olutionary is  described.  Freedom  has  taken  the 
place  of  bondage  to  law;  filial  trust  has  taken 

92 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

the  place  of  fear;  peace  rules  in  the  heart,  which 
is  now  free  from  condemnation.  The  Christian 
man  is  in  harmony  with  God,  with  himself  and 
with  his  fellow  men.  Paul  never  loses  the  joy  of 
the  new  life  of  faith  and  freedom,  nor  does  he 
seem  ever  to  lose  the  surprise  of  it.  It  is  always 
to  him  something  new.  The  great  discovery  was 
then  and  still  is  a  perpetual  wonder,  ever  renewed 
as  the  life  of  faith  springs  up  again  and  again. 
Thus  there  is  the  Christian  character,  which  is  a 
distinct  type,  in  whatever  conditions  or  national- 
ities it  appears,  as  crystals  may  be  large  or  small, 
burnished  or  incrusted,  but  all  cleave  at  the  same 
angles  and  respond  to  the  same  tests.  Disputes 
over  doctrine,  creed,  theory,  do  not  disturb  the 
judgment  of  the  world  respecting  the  Christian 
character.  It  is  an  ideal  winning  admiration  in 
modern  as  in  ancient  times,  and  finding  new  em- 
bodiments in  living  men  and  women,  of  faith, 
of  independence,  and  of  self-sacrificing  love  in 
every  generation.  Whether  it  appears  under  Chris- 
tian nurture,  gradually  disengaging  itself  from 
what  is  foreign  to  it,  or  bursts  out  with  sudden- 
ness, almost  with  violence,  throwing  off  chains  of 
bondage,  it  is  the  new,  the  living,  the  supreme 
and  perfect  type  of  character.  Paul's  epistles  are 

93 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

by  some  considered  to  be  doctrinal;  they  are 
really  ethical.  He  is  absorbed  with  the  thought 
of  the  new  type  of  life,  and  is  doctrinal  only  to 
explain  how  it  is  produced.  How  is  this  new  type 
of  life,  this  ideal  to  be  accounted  for.?  There  is 
but  one  answer;  it  is  inspired  by  Christ;  it  is 
created  by  Christ.  If  any  man  be  in  Christ  Jesus, 
he  is  a  new  creation;  old  things  are  passed  away, 
behold  all  things  are  become  new.  So  it  was  at 
the  outset;  He  was  the  source  of  the  new  life. 
There  were  various  explanations  then,  as  now.  It 
was  faith,  it  was  obedience,  it  was  imitation,  it 
was  discipleship,  it  was  sympathy,  it  was  sur- 
render, it  was  consecration;  but  no  matter  how 
described,  it  was  some  sort  of  vital  relation  with 
Christ.  He  was  the  original  source  of  the  life.  He 
was  the  vine,  believers  the  branches;  He  was  the 
head,  believers  the  members  of  his  body.  The 
life  was  in  Christ,  and  this  life  reappeared  in  men; 
it  was  reproductive.  To  this  day  the  explanation 
is  the  same.  The  Christian  is  a  creation  of  Christ. 
The  phrase  of  explanation  matters  not;  call  it 
teaching,  influence,  or  example;  call  it  sacrifice, 
redemption,  or  intercession;  enough  that  the 
effect,  which  is  unique  and,  in  kind,  absolute  in 
worth  and  perfection,  can  be  accounted  for  in  but 

94 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

one  way.  There  is  a  new  creation,  and  the  creator, 
the  producer,  is  Jesus  Christ.  And  whence  came 
that  life  to  which  the  new  life  of  man  must  be 
traced.?  Whence,  but  from  God?  The  new  life  is 
the  result  of  the  revelation;  the  revelation  was 
the  person;  it  was  Christ's  own  life  in  God,  the 
life  of  Sonship  with  God  that  revealed  God  to  the 
world.  God  was  in  Christ,  revealing  himself  in 
such  ways  that  the  life  of  Sonship  with  its  free- 
dom, its  faith,  its  hope,  and  its  love,  replacing 
the  old  life,  old  because  full  of  the  elements  of 
decay,  by  the  new  life,  new  because  ever  fresh 
and  strong  and  right,  was  capable  of  production 
and  reproduction  forever. 

Another  point  of  view  is  the  society  of  the  re- 
deemed, or  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  This  king- 
dom is  the  natural  result  of  the  type  of  personal 
character  created  by  Christ.  The  sons  of  God  are 
brethren.  This  kingdom,  considered  as  the  visible 
organization  of  believers,  is  the  Christian  Church; 
considered  as  the  company  of  all  true  followers  of 
Christ,  it  is  the  society  of  persons  who  are  bound 
together  in  a  spiritual  unity  of  love  to  each  other, 
and  of  service  to  the  world;  considered  still  more 
broadly,  it  is  all  Christian  thought  and  life  which 
purifies   society   through   literature,    art,   laws, 

95 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

customs,  and  education,  which  constitute  Chris- 
tian civilization.  If  we  should  trace  the  principles 
of  liberty,  law,  and  service,  by  which  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  is  distinguished  from  kingdoms  or  socie- 
ties resting  on  superior  might,  and  in  which  the 
weak  are  made  to  serve  the  strong,  we  should  be 
led  back  to  the  principle  of  true  greatness,  enun- 
ciated by  Christ,  and  should  see  that  that  princi- 
ple made  its  great  way  in  the  world,  not  by  mere 
utterance,  but  by  the  life  of  Him  who  realized  it 
among  men,  and  who  explained  it  by  pointing  to 
his  own  example:  "Even  as  the  Son  of  Man  came, 
not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister."  In 
this  Kingdom,  Christ  is  King.  By  that  term  his 
spiritual  authority  is  recognized,  which  rests  on 
his  revelation  of  God  as  Father,  and  his  power  to 
create  the  new  life  of  Sonship.  "Ye  call  me  Lord 
and  Master,  and  ye  say  well,  for  so  I  am."  All 
Christians  would  echo  the  word  of  Luther:  "Er 
ist  mein  Herr." 

The  belief  concerning  Jesus  is  not  that  God,  in 
all  his  absoluteness,  omniscience,  and  omnipres- 
ence took  the  form  of  a  man  and  walked  among 
men  in  Galilee,  so  that  Jesus  knew  all  occurrences 
on  earth  and  through  the  universe  and  was  con- 
scious that  He  created  the  stars,  and  knew  more, 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

not  only  than  the  ancients  but  than  the  moderns, 
of  science  and  philosophy;  but  it  is  the  belief  that 
God  was  in  Christ  so  far  as  God  can  manifest  his 
life  in  a  human  personality  at  a  given  period  in 
history,  and  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  in  his 
grace  and  love  for  the  renewal  and  perfection  of 
man.  This  revelation  of  God  pertains  more  to  his 
character  than  to  his  absoluteness.  It  is  the  love 
of  God  which  is  made  known  in  Jesus  Christ.  The 
fitness  of  personality  to  express  love  is  unques- 
tioned. That  which  is  highest  in  the  possibilities 
of  human  nature  is  the  ethical.  In  respect  to 
character  there  is  an  affinity  of  God  and  man,  so 
that  God  might  be  able  in  no  other  way  so  well  to 
reveal  his  own  character  as  in  a  pure  and  perfect 
human  personality.  The  truth  which  pervades 
the  record  of  Jesus'  life,  is  that  He  was  the  Son 
of  God.  Men  were  impressed  and  the  world  has 
been  impressed  by  his  perfect  harmony  with  God. 
That  life  was  perfect,  because  it  revealed  in 
every  act  and  word  the  relation  of  Sonship.  He 
did  not  struggle  up  into  this  by  repentings,  but 
He  was  in  the  completeness  of  Sonship  from  the 
beginning.  Those  who  came  under  the  influence 
of  Jesus  saw  before  very  long  that  the  Sonship 
was  not  a  fleeting  condition  of  a  few  years  in  a 

97 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

sorrowful  human  life,  but  that  it  was  of  an  eternal 
quality.  Who  do  men  say  that  I  am?  Some  say 
Elias,  or  Jeremias,  or  John  the  Baptist  risen  from 
the  dead.  Who  do  ye  say  that  I  am?  Thou  art 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  Putting  all 
things  together,  the  history,  the  revelation,  the 
redemption,  the  kingdom,  it  is  seen  that  the  thing 
revealed  on  earth  was  a  thing  of  the  heavens;  that 
Sonship  and  Fatherhood  are  of  the  very  being  of 
God;  that  it  was  eternal  Sonship  which  had  found 
a  way  to  be  embodied  in  human  life  where  it  could 
be  mirrored  in  visible  form.  The  thought  is  not  of 
before  and  after,  but  of  that  which  is  eternal, 
of  what  God  is  in  his  very  character  and  heart. 
Sonship  is  human,  but  also  Sonship  is  divine. 

There  is  a  limit  to  the  understanding  of  the 
person  of  Christ.  If  He  is  truly  divine,  it  could 
not  be  otherwise.  The  limit  is  on  the  side  of  spec- 
ulative or  metaphysical  ideas  of  the  mode  of  ab- 
solute being  and  manifestation.  On  the  ethical 
side,  Jesus  stands  clearly  revealed.  The  true  law 
of  life,  the  divine  purity,  righteousness,  and  love, 
the  trust  and  obedience  of  Sonship,  are  aglow 
with  beauty  and  glory.  We  know  it  was  the  life 
of  God  which  was  manifested  in  Christ,  as  we 
know  it  is  the  heaving  of  the  ocean  in  all  its  f ull- 

98 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

ness  which  rocks  the  frail  barks  resting  on  its 
surface.  The  metaphysics  of  the  symbols  is  in 
part  superseded  by  modern  modes  of  thought,  and 
is  also  needlessly  minute.  Their  value  is  in  the 
declaration  that  God  was  in  Christ.  They  guarded 
the  divineness  of  the  revelation  against  doubts  or 
denials.  The  Nicene  Creed,  in  such  phrases  as, 
"Light  of  Light,"  "Very  God  of  very  God," 
means  that  it  is  God's  own  truth  and  light  which 
have  come  into  this  dark  world  in  Jesus  Christ. 
In  Him  God  seeks  man,  reversing  the  age-long 
weariness,  through  which  man  was  ever  painfully 
seeking  God. 

The  virgin  birth  is  not  regarded  as  an  essential 
doctrine  of  Christianity.  The  belief  that  Jesus 
transcended  humanity,  that  He  was  sinless,  rests 
on  his  life,  teachings,  and  work,  not  on  the  man- 
ner of  his  birth.  There  are  only  two  accounts  of 
the  miraculous  conception  and  these  are  stories, 
written  thirty  years  later,  of  visions  that  Mary  and 
Joseph  were  said  to  have  had.  There  is  no  refer- 
ence to  the  virgin  birth  elsewhere  in  the  New 
Testament,  or  by  Jesus  himself. 

The  resurrection  of  Christ  signifies  the  ever- 
living  Lord.  Whatever  the  appearances  of  Jesus 
to  the  disciples  may  have  been,  whether  actual 

99 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

manifestations  we  cannot  understand,  or  subjec- 
tive visions  in  which  his  person  seemed  real,  it 
is  certain  the  disciples  were  convinced  that  Jesus 
lived.  They  remembered  his  predictions  that  He 
would  suffer  death  and  would  live  again,  and  it 
was  perfectly  real  to  them  that  the  same  Jesus 
who  companied  with  them  was  living  and  was 
with  them  always  even  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
And  this  is  the  faith  of  the  Church,  that  Jesus 
overcame  death,  and  is  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day and  forever.  The  historical  Christ  is  the 
living  Christ.  He  was  the  expression  in  time  of 
Ahat  which  is  et.f^rnfll. 

So  the  Church  to-day  believes  in  the  living 
Christ.  The  presence  of  Christ  in  the  world,  in 
the  Church,  in  the  heart,  is  a  spiritual,  rather  than 
a  spatial  presence.  He  rules  over  men  in  love  and 
truth,  not  by  physical  nearness,  but  by  spirit- 
ual affinity.  That  which  was  objectified  in  his 
earthly  life  is  eternal  in  the  relation  of  Sonship, 
and  is  responded  to  by  us  in  those  spiritual  aspira- 
tions which  go  forth  towards  Christ.  The  physical 
world  and  the  bodies  of  men  are  but  temporary 
conditions  in  which  the  spirit  is  localized,  while  it 
responds  to  the  spiritual  forces  which  know  noth- 
ing of  distance,  but  flash  from  life  to  life  instantly, 

100 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

as  the  lowly  plant  responds  to  the  light  and  heat 
and  magnetism  which  pervade  the  universe. 

The  law  and  the  spirit  of  Christ  are  still  the 
hope  of  the  world.  The  ideal  of  humanity  is  still 
far  from  being  realized;  the  powers  of  evil  are 
great.  God  in  history  and  humanity  is  not  a  God 
of  the  past,  but  of  the  present  and  future,  ever 
revealing  himself  in  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day  and  forever.  The  Life  was  the 
Light  of  men.  The  entire  truth  is  summed  up  in 
the  phrase:  "For  the  life  was  manifested,  and  we 
have  seen  the  life  and  bear  witness  and  declare 
unto  you  the  Eternal  Life  which  was  with  the 
Father  and  was  manifested  unto  us." 

I  conclude,  then,  that  the  change  in  belief  con- 
cerning Christ  is  the  recovery,  we  might  almost 
say  the  discovery,  of  the  humanity  of  Christ, 
rather  than  relinquishment  of  his  divinity,  and 
that  his  divinity  is  found  in  the  spiritual  values  of 
his  person,  rather  than  in  the  absolute  attributes 
of  deity.  He  was  the  Son  of  God  in  a  unique  sense, 
and  there  we  rest.  As  to  a  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
while  we  do  not  deny  that  it  stood  for  various 
revelations  of  God,  we  do  not  follow  fine  and 
exact  distinctions,  as  of  substance  and  person, 
of  the  Son  proceeding  from  the  Father,  and  the 

101 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Spirit  proceeding  from  the  Father  and  Son,  of 
one  nature  and  three  persons,  of  Christ  continu- 
ing to  be  God  and  man  in  two  distinct  natures  and 
one  person  forever.  He  gave  the  world  a  new  and 
right  idea  of  God;  He  was  the  ideal,  inspiring 
a  new  life;  He  renovates  society,  making  it  the 
kingdom  of  God.  There  we  are  content  to  rest, 
not  deeming  ourselves  capable  of  defining  in 
words  and  phrases  the  person  of  Him  in  whom 
we  believe  dwelt  the  fullness  of  the  God-head 
bodily,  or  of  penetrating  the  mysteries  of  the 
divine  being. 


CHAPTER  VI 

REDEMPTION  AND   CONVERSION 

Christianity  is  the  religion  of  redemption.  Sal- 
vation, regeneration,  redemption,  are  character- 
istic words.  The  salvation  of  the  individual  is  the 
motive  power  of  the  Christian  religion.  Christian- 
ity is  a  gospel,  is  good  news,  the  good  news  of 
salvation.  "The  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and 
save  that  which  was  lost";  "He  came  that  we 
might  have  life  and  might  have  it  abundantly"; 
these  and  many  like  sayings  indicate  that  the  ob- 
jective point  of  the  Christian  religion  is  human- 
ity redeemed,  saved,  restored.  Every  doctrine  is 
directed  to  this  end,  is  an  interpretation  of  the 
means  of  human  salvation;  the  Fatherhood  of 
God  Almighty;  the  Person  and  Work  of  Christ; 
the  Spirit  of  holiness,  that  is,  the  Holy  Spirit; 
and,  of  course,  justification,  conversion,  faith, 
repentance,  heaven  and  hell. 

Comparing  the  present  with  former  ideas  of 
redemption  in  the  Protestant  churches,  a  consid- 
erable  change   may   be   marked,   a  change   of 

103 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

emphasis  from  external  to  internal,  from  status 
to  character.  A  hundred  years  ago,  and  even 
later,  salvation  was  in  view  of  the  lurid  background 
of  hell,  of  everlasting  punishment.  Sinners,  the 
wicked,  the  unconverted,  would  at  death  be  cast 
into  the  outer  darkness,  where  would  be  wailing 
and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Those  who  had  been 
converted  would  be  in  heaven,  a  place  of  rest,  of 
unceasing  worship,  in  the  immediate  presence  of 
Christ  or  of  God.  A  Christian  out  of  gratitude 
would  be  good,  but  he  is  saved  by  faith,  not  by 
works.  A  common  expression  in  prayer  was,  "  We 
are  saved,  not  for  any  worth  or  worthiness  of  ours, 
but  only  by  grace."  The  life  was  better  than  the 
theory,  yet  this  conception  of  salvation  must  have 
narrowed  the  life. 

Now,  when  this  plan  of  salvation,  as  it  was 
then  called,  was  thought  about  or  analyzed,  chief 
stress  was  laid  on  guilt.  Guilt  and  penalty  are 
correlative  terms;  guilt  and  hell  go  together. 
Even  if  one  stops  sinning,  yet  there  is  the  guilt 
of  the  past  uncanceled;  before  the  bar  of  jus- 
tice that  guilt  remains.  Nor  does  repentance 
remove  guilt;  one  may  be  sorry  one  has  done 
wrong,  but  that  does  not  make  one  any  the  less 
guilty. 

104 


REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

Could  my  tears  forever  flow, 
Could  my  zeal  no  respite  know. 
All  for  guilt  could  not  atone. 

There  is  a  penalty  to  which  one  is  exposed;  the 
past  cannot  be  blotted  out.  Salvation  from  the 
penalty  of  guilt,  it  was  believed,  is  by  the  Cross 
of  Christ.  He  made  atonement  for  the  sins  of  the 
world.  He  bore  the  penalty.  He  satisfied  divine 
justice.  He  blotted  out  the  account.  The  analogies 
of  courts  of  justice  were  employed.  God  is  a 
Judge:  He  knows  all  we  do  and  say  and  think; 
there  is  not  a  word  in  my  mouth  but  lo,  O  Lord, 
thou  understandest  it  altogether;  for  every  idle 
word  we  shall  give  account  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. God  must  be  just,  impartially  just,  and 
there  is  nothing  for  it,  but  that  the  guilty  person 
be  punished.  Sin  deserves  an  infinite  or  everlast- 
ing punishment,  for  it  is  against  an  infinite  God. 
Christ's  death  had  an  infinite  value,  for  He  is 
God,  so  Jesus,  by  his  sufferings  and  death,  could 
bear  the  penalty  of  guilt.  It  was  argued,  rather 
inconsistently,  that  human  repentance  is  unavail- 
ing, since  the  repentance  of  a  man  is  finite;  for  if 
sin  is  against  the  infinite  God,  so  is  repentance 
toward  the  infinite  God.  But  Christ  by  his  suffer- 
ings and  death  bore  the  penalty,  so  the  account 

105 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

is  erased  and  on  repentance  man  is  cleared,  his 
guilt  is  removed,  he  is  justified. 

Since  there  are  penalties  one  cannot  take  for 
another,  —  a  brother  or  friend  cannot  go  to 
prison  for  another,  —  the  analogy  of  debt  was 
more  commonly  employed.  The  penalty  often  is 
a  fine,  a  debt,  and  this  another  can  pay  for  the 
guilty  person.  This  idea  found  expression  in  pop- 
ular hymns:  "Jesus  paid  it  all";  "He  took  away 
the  bond  " ;  and  in  hymns  that  are  more  imagina- 
tive and  spiritual,  the  guilt,  as  apart  from  the 
evil  of  sin,  is  designated;  "Save  me  from  its  guilt 
and  power"; 

Nothing  in  my  hand  I  bring. 
Simply  to  Thy  cross  I  cling. 

This  gave  the  doctrine  of  imputation  and  substi- 
tution: the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  imputed  to 
us;  his  sufferings  are  substituted  for  the  penalty 
of  sin.  The  large  word  "vicarious,"  which  has  a 
profound  meaning,  was  literalized,  and,  by  pref- 
erence, "expiation"  and  "propitiation"  were 
employed.  It  was  believed  that  Christ  endured 
the  wrath  of  God,  and  so  averted  the  penalty 
hanging  over  us.  Faith  and  works  were  separated : 
we  are  saved  by  faith,  not  by  works.  Faith  is 
believing  that  Christ  bore  the  penalty  of  our  sins 

106 


REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  and  that  therefore 
God  forgives  us.  The  instant  one  believes  that, 
one  is  justified,  is  saved.  Then  the  Hfe  of  Christ 
purifies  him;  the  Spirit  takes  the  things  of  Christ 
and  shows  them  unto  us,  and  we  are  sanctified. 
Justification  is  instantaneous;  sanctification  is 
gradual.  It  has  been  noticed  in  the  previous 
chapter  that  the  substitutionary  view  yielded. 
In  the  Protestant  churches  this  view  is  not  held; 
that  is,  the  view  that  Christ  bore  the  penalty  of 
sin.  In  the  Catholic  Church  it  obtains,  and  is 
expressed  in  the  Mass. 

I  said  that  salvation  formerly  was  regarded  as 
status,  as  standing,  as  justification,  rather  than 
as  character;  meaning  that  the  emphasis  was 
there.  One  is  treated  as  though  one  were  right- 
eous, it  was  said.  The  other  side  was  not  ignored. 
There  were  pretty  clear  ideas  of  what  a  Christian 
ought  to  be.  With  such  an  ideal  before  one,  such 
a  personal  magnitude  of  human  perfection,  char- 
acter would  be  shaped  accordingly,  but,  in 
thought,  religion  was  divorced  from  morality. 

The  idea  of  salvation  has  changed,  and  for  the 
better.  Redemption  is,  on  the  whole,  a  more 
significant  word  than  salvation  to  express  the 
recovery  of  man.    Salvation  is  from  something; 

107 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

redemption  is  to  something.  One  is  saved  from 
fire,  from  punishment,  from  death,  —  you  have 
saved  my  life;  but  one  is  the  same  person:  nothing 
new  has  happened,  only  something  has  not  hap- 
pened. Salvation  is  from  a  danger.  It  is  indeed  a 
Bible  word,  a  Christian  word,  yet  has  been  worn 
thin  as  a  counter  or  token  of  escape.  At  any  rate, 
redemption,  which  also  is  a  Bible  word,  a  Chris- 
tian word,  is  more  comprehensive,  and  better 
expresses  the  modern  conception  of  the  work  of 
Christ. 

Redemption  is  to  uses:  as  the  redemption  of  the 
currency,  the  redemption  of  waste  land.  Redemp- 
tion makes  good,  makes  a  man  his  true  self, 
recovers  him  to  the  ideal,  restores  moral  and 
spiritual  character.  Jesus'  illustrations  from  the 
recovery  of  the  lost  piece  of  silver,  the  lost  sheep, 
and  the  lost  son,  have  in  view  values  restored,  — 
the  silver  to  its  use,  the  sheep  to  the  use  of  the 
owner,  the  lost  son  to  affection  and  obedience, 
as  suggestively  expressed,  "He  came  to  himself." 
If  men  were  going  right,  doing  right,  there  could 
be  no  thought  of,  no  need  of  salvation.  If  men 
go  wrong,  do  wrong,  they  are  saved  by  going 
right,  doing  right.  And  Jesus  Christ  is  the  great- 
est power  in  the  world  to  set  men  right,  to  redeem 

108 


REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

them.  They  see  the  ideal,  the  normal  character, 
and  they  see  Him  loving  men  into  purity,  noble- 
ness and  love.  Redemption  implies  recovery: 
it  implies  that  every  man  goes  wrong,  more  or 
less,  —  but  goes  wrong.  Yet,  although  Christian- 
ity makes  this  assumption,  it  represents  forgive- 
ness as  incidental,  as  the  negative  side  of  redemp- 
tion. Redemption  is  from  sin,  it  is  true,  but  that 
is  not  all:  it  is  from  sin  unto  holiness,  and  it  is 
holiness,  or  the  choice  of  it,  which  gives  deliver- 
ance from  sin. 

Theology  had  given  too  large  a  place  to  penalty 
and  guilt,  as  related  to  the  law  of  God.  It  had 
represented  the  satisfaction  of  justice  and  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  as  the  principal  object  of 
Christ's  sacrifice.  Theology  had  maintained  that 
one  cannot  be  forgiven  on  repentance  alone,  but 
that  the  penalty  of  his  sin  must  be  paid  off  by 
some  equivalent.  This  was  a  reversal  of  propor- 
tion. Personal  righteousness  is  the  principal  ob- 
ject; incident  to  this  is  deliverance  from  sin  and 
its  penalty,  which  is  not  physical  pain,  but  deteri- 
oration, degeneracy.  So  it  is  only  by  choice  and 
realization  of  the  good  that  sin  can  cease  and  its 
consequences  be  escaped.  To  convert  the  sinner 
into  a  saint  is  the  object  of  the  Gospel.  Becoming 

109 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

a  saint  he  ceases  to  be  a  sinner;  there  is  no  other 
way  in  which  he  can  cease  to  be  a  sinner;  and,  if 
he  chooses  to  be  a  child  of  God,  there  are  no  old 
accounts  hanging  over  him,  he  is  simply  forgiven 
and  welcomed.  Penalty  is  an  inherent  conse- 
quence of  the  selfish,  sinful  state,  and  can  be 
remitted  only  by  the  change  to  the  state  of  right- 
eousness. It  is  indeed  so  wonderful  a  thing  that 
one  can  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  sin,  that 
at  first  remission  of  sins  may  seem  to  be  the  whole 
of  it,  but  the  real  thing  is  righteousness.  There 
is  no  condemnation,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  not  by 
arrangement  external  to  the  man. 

Guilt  is  an  estimate  of  character.  So  far  as  the 
past  is  concerned,  guilt  is  never  removed.  If  one 
is  regenerated,  or  turns  about  when  he  is  thirty 
years  old,  his  guilt  when  he  was  twenty  remains 
just  what  it  was.  Looking  back  he  disapproves 
himself  more  than  he  did  at  the  time.  He  was 
the  guilty  one,  and  nothing  can  ever  change  that 
damning  fact.  But  that  is  of  little  consequence 
now;  one  should  not  think  about  it;  God  does  not 
reproach  him;  "Your  sins  and  iniquities  will  I 
remember  no  more,"  —  that  is,  I  will  not  remind 
you  of  them.  As  one  who  has  reformed  sometimes 
reverts  to  his  past  wickedness,  but  is  not  allowed 

110 


REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

to  dwell  on  it,  —  "we  will  not  talk  about  that," 
—  so  in  respect  to  the  old  character  of  sin.  The 
father  did  not  allow  the  prodigal  to  complete  the 
confession  he  had  prepared  to  make,  but  inter- 
rupted him  and  dwelt  on  the  fact  of  his  return 
home. 

Jesus  said  that  superficial  changes  in  outward 
condition  and  custom  are  not  salvation,  that 
there  must  be  the  changed  heart,  the  new  man. 
Of  Zaccheus,  who  turned  about  facing  towards 
righteousness,  Jesus  said,  "Now  is  salvation  come 
to  this  house."  Ceremonial  religion  is  unavailing; 
"Go  ye  and  learn  what  that  meaneth,  I  will  have 
mercy  and  not  sacrifice."  "Ye  pay  tithe  of  mint 
and  anise  and  cummin,  and  have  left  undone  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy, 
and  faith."  There  must  be  right  motive,  a  right 
spirit,  a  right  heart,  right  character.  This  or  that 
kind  of  food  does  not  defile  a  man,  but  the  evil 
thoughts  that  proceed  out  of  the  heart,  these 
defile  a  man.  Theology  has  obscured  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  Gospel,  when  it  has  put  imputations 
and  satisfactions  in  the  place  of  renewed  charac- 
ter. The  Gospel  is  obscured  when  a  man  imagines 
he  may  go  on  in  his  selfish  ways  and  be  saved  by 
church,  sacrament,  profession.   The  two  charac- 

111 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

ters,  the  bad  and  the  good,  are  often  put  side  by 
side  in  the  New  Testament :  the  old  man  of  deceit- 
fulness  and  unrighteousness  and  the  new  man  of 
truth  and  holiness.  Jesus  did  not  say  that  men 
are  as  bad  as  they  can  be,  but  said  that  all  men 
need  to  be  converted  and  to  become  as  little 
children.  The  bondage  of  sin  is  broken,  just  by 
turning  about.  "If  ye  continue  in  my  word,  then 
are  ye  my  disciples  indeed;  and  ye  shall  know 
the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 

Redemption  is  by  the  positive  method.  Faults 
are  corrected  by  the  cultivation  of  virtues.  The 
new  pushes  out  the  old.  The  leaves  of  an  oak 
cling  to  the  branches  until  late  in  the  spring;  the 
winds  and  storms  of  winter  could  not  tear  them 
off,  but  they  are  pushed  off  by  the  propulsion  of 
new  buds  at  the  base  of  the  stem.  The  lusts  of  the 
flesh  are  subdued,  not  by  severe  repression,  not 
by  holding  them  down  with  an  iron  hand,  not  by 
scourgings  of  them  till  they  bleed,  but  by  the 
power  of  the  new  life.  Walk  in  the  spirit  and 
ye  shall  not  fulfill  the  lusts  of  the  flesh. 

With  redemption  goes  conversion.  We  have 
seen  that  the  Puritans  emphasized  conversion, 
and  that  all  along  in  the  Evangelical  churches  the 
conversion  of  the  individual  by  supreme  choice 

112 


REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

was  made  so  definite  that  the  very  hour  was 
marked  and  the  exact  processes  of  conviction  of 
sin,  of  repentance,  of  faith,  were  prescribed.  "A 
change  of  heart"  was  a  usual  description  of  con- 
version. One  passed  instantly  from  despah*  to 
hope.  Doubtless  many  had  this  experience  of  the 
great  decision,  consciously  taken. 

There  is  a  great  truth  in  conversion,  however, 
—  the  truth  that  a  person,  by  his  own  choice,  is 
changed  in  character,  and  so  is  redeemed;  the 
truth  that  the  Christian  type  of  character  is  dis- 
tinctive, is  deliberately  chosen  and  when  chosen 
is  a  present  reality.  Complete  realization  lies  in 
the  future,  but  the  type  itself,  in  principle  and 
power,  is  actual  at  once.  Because  the  type  exists, 
its  full  attainment  is  to  be  expected.  This  may 
be  regarded  as  a  unique  feature  of  the  Christian 
religion.  It  explains  and  combines  the  statements 
of  Scripture  —  that  man  is  to  be  saved  in  the 
future  and  yet  is  saved  in  the  present;  that  he  will 
have  and  that  he  now  has  eternal  life.  By  supreme 
choice  one  goes  over  from  other  types  of  virtue, 
as  well  as  from  immorality,  to  the  Christian  type 
of  love.  He  abandons  the  legalism  of  rules  for 
the  freedom  and  spontaneity  of  love,  as  was  the 
case  when  the  Jew  became  a  Christian;  he  aban- 

113 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

dons  the  repressions  of  asceticism  for  the  life  of 
self-sacrificing  service.  This  type,  which  in  kind 
is  perfect,  is  in  possession  and  is  controlling  as 
soon  as  it  is  intelligently  preferred  and  freely 
adopted.  It  is  the  working  principle  from  the 
outset.  The  Christian  finally  produced,  untar- 
nished and  symmetrical,  is  the  Christian  con- 
tinually reproduced;  there  must  be  the  Christian 
to  begin  with  that  there  may  be  the  Christian  to 
end  with;  the  kind  of  life  must  be  incipient  in 
order  that  there  may  be  that  kind  of  life  complete 
and  beautiful. 

The  result,  the  advantage,  the  privilege,  are 
contained  in  the  initial  choice  that  constitutes 
the  new  character.  This  fact  has  repeated  expres- 
sion in  the  New  Testament.  He  that  receives 
Christ  is  as  truly  a  child  of  God  the  instant  he 
turns  from  a  self-centered  to  a  Christ-centered, 
a  humanity-centered  life,  as  he  is  when  he  attains 
the  glory  of  heaven,  and  is  clothed  in  white  robes 
before  the  throne  of  God.  There  is  now  no  con- 
demnation. The  believer  has  eternal  life,  has 
passed  from  death  unto  life.  Paul  put  it  in  bold 
and  sweeping  statement:  "If  any  man  be  in 
Christ  Jesus,  he  is  a  new  creation;  old  things  are 
passed  away,  behold  all  things  are  become  new." 

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REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

Salvation  is  therefore  represented  sometimes  as 
future,  sometimes  as  present.  "Now  is  our  salva- 
tion nearer  than  when  we  believed";  that  is,  the 
complete  salvation  of  the  future.  "Work  out 
your  own  salvation";  that  is,  you  have  salvation 
already,  now  work  it  out  to  its  issues.  The  writer 
does  not  mean  that  by  working  tremendously 
salvation  may  finally  be  grasped,  but,  let  the 
possessed  salvation  energize  until  its  appropriate 
transformation  and  fruitage  are  complete. 

This  radical  and  instantaneous  change  has 
sometimes  been  made  a  reproach  to  Christianity, 
but  is  really  one  of  its  most  profound  principles. 
The  criticism  is  made  that  it  promises  salvation 
to  a  word,  an  assent,  an  emotion.  When  the  con- 
dition of  having  eternal  life  is  condensed  into  the 
words,  "only  believe,"  there  is  danger  of  immoral 
indulgence  and  excess.  Any  principle  is  liable  to 
be  abused,  and  the  principle  of  salvation  by  faith 
has  not  escaped;  but  it  is  a  true  principle.  Genu- 
ine faith  puts  life  under  the  law  of  love  to  God 
and  love  to  man,  under  the  law  of  Christ.  He 
who  is  in  that  life  is  free  from  condemnation,  is 
justified,  is  treated  as  though  he  were  righteous, 
because  in  potency,  he  is  righteous.  He  has  the 
privileges  of  the  son  of  God;  he  is  new-privileged 

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A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

because  he  is  new-charactered.  If  men  deceive 
themselves  with  the  counterfeits  of  faith,  with 
professions,  emotions,  assents,  it  does  not  follow 
that  genuine  faith  is  not  a  radical  transformation 
of  character,  and  the  pledge  of  its  perfection. 
The  counterfeits  are  a  tribute  to  the  reality  and 
potency  of  that  faith  which  renews  a  man,  which 
new-characters  him. 

The  fact  that  the  future  is  in  the  present  has 
abundant  illustrations  in  inventions  and  discov- 
eries. Edison  experiments  with  some  bits  of 
carbon  and  electrified  wires.  If  a  certain  result  is 
gained,  it  is  seen  that  old  methods  of  lighting  and 
communication  must  give  way  to  new  methods. 
The  invention  is  instantly  worth  thousands  of 
dollars,  before  any  useful  application  of  it  has 
actually  been  made.  A  power  is  discovered  that  is 
seen  to  be  capable  of  producing  important  results, 
and  is  spoken  of  as  if  it  already  produced  them. 
As  soon  as  the  art  of  printing  was  discovered, 
when  as  yet  no  books  had  been  published,  it 
might  have  been  foretold  that  education  would 
be  universal,  that  all  parts  of  the  world  would 
be  brought  into  communication,  that  the  Bible 
would  be  an  open  book  to  the  people.  A  volume 
that  issued  from  the  first  press  was  ill-favored 

116 


REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

enough  with  its  coarse  print  and  clumsy  letters, 
but  on  the  title-page  might  have  been  printed, 
education,  culture,  political  and  religious  free- 
dom. Cathedrals  reared  all  over  Europe  in  the 
Middle  Ages  were  teachers  of  sublimity,  beauty 
and  reverence;  the  great  handwriting  of  noble 
thoughts.  Then  books  came.  The  presentiment 
of  the  priest  in  Victor  Hugo's  story,  looking  at 
the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  and  looking  at 
the  little  book,  the  first  printing,  was,  as  he 
extended  his  right  hand  toward  the  book  which 
lay  on  the  table,  and  his  left  hand  toward  Notre 
Dame,  that  the  book  of  stone,  so  solid  and  so 
enduring,  was  about  to  make  way  for  the  book  of 
paper,  more  solid  and  still  more  enduring.  When 
books  came,  the  thoughts  of  men  had  an  expres- 
sion more  fitting  and  more  universal,  because 
they  could  be  read  by  all. 

There  are  epochs  in  history,  starting-points, 
that  ring  out  the  old  and  ring  in  the  new.  There 
are  epochs  in  the  life  of  individuals.  An  intellec- 
tual awakening  occurs.  A  youth  who  had  been 
frivolous,  a  pleasure-seeker,  all  at  once,  by  some 
book  casually  read,  or  under  the  inspiration  of 
a  teacher,  is  aroused  mentally  and  finds  himself 
in  a  new  world.   Ilis  intellectual  character  is 

117 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

changed,  and  he  is  already  a  scholar  before  actual 
attainments  have  been  made.  When  in  time  of 
war  a  man  enlists,  he  is  honored  for  his  patriotism 
and  has  a  new  character  which,  under  discipline, 
will  make  him  a  soldier  indeed.  How  often  it  is 
said  that  one  has  turned  over  a  new  leaf.  The 
character  of  faith  and  love  is  a  present  reality 
as  soon  as  it  is  initiated.  Future  results  are  seen 
and  are  regarded  as  already  attained.  Therefore 
there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  angels  of  God  over 
one  sinner  that  repenteth.  To  be  sure,  from  an 
angel's  point  of  view,  he  is  still  a  sorry  object. 
The  hour  may  be  far  away  when  he  will  be  per- 
fect, but  he  is  a  changed  man,  a  new  man.  It 
mattered  not  to  the  father  that  the  Prodigal  Son 
was  in  rags,  gaunt,  dirty,  forlorn:  he  had  turned 
about  and  come  home  to  his  father. 

It  is,  then,  a  commanding  idea  of  Christianity, 
that  he  who  is  in  Christ  is  a  new  sort  of  man.  The 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  never  lose  the  sur- 
prise of  it.  A  man  is  not  bound  by  the  chains 
of  habit,  but  is  set  free  at  a  stroke,  is  let  out  of 
prison.  It  is  not  implied  that  nothing  remains  to 
be  done;  but  faith  is  a  principle  which  works, 
which  works  by  love,  and  is  ever  at  work,  until 
the  actual  man  becomes  the  ideal  man.    The 

118 


REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

power  of  Christianity  resides  in  no  small  degree 
in  the  creation  of  the  new  type,  here  and  now.  It 
has  power  because  it  is  true  to  nature. 

It  does  not  follow  because  faith  is  a  radical 
change  of  character,  a  new  life,  that  the  exact 
time,  the  very  minute  of  turning,  can  always  be 
marked.  The  influence  of  nurture,  the  atmosphere 
of  the  home,  the  surroundings  of  Christian  life 
and  Christian  thought  imprint  character,  so  that 
the  youth  may  not  be  aware  of  a  particular  time, 
a  day,  when  he  turned  from  a  bad  way  to  a  good 
way.  The  transition  may  be  gradual,  by  degrees, 
extending  over  months  or  years,  now  the  melting 
of  a  prejudice,  now  the  correction  of  a  judgment, 
now  a  new  appraisal  of  a  moral  value.  When  does 
a  child  become  a  man,  —  a  child  yesterday,  a  man 
to-day?  In  some  cases  in  a  moment:  a  certain 
experience,  a  responsibility  thrust  upon  him,  a 
loss  sustained,  a  particular  event,  makes  a  man 
of  him  all  at  once;  or  maturing  is  gradual,  due  to 
accretions  of  knowledge  and  ripening  of  judgment. 
A  crisis  is  pretty  sure  to  come  to  every  life,  — 
more  than  one  crisis,  some  apparently  trivial  al- 
ternative, or  some  momentous  appeal.  Looking 
back  one  sees  how  much  depended  on,  and  how 
great  consequences  followed,  that  one  turning- 

119 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

point.  Yet,  crisis  or  no  crisis,  contrast  of  old  and 
new  or  invisible  degrees  of  growth,  the  Chris- 
tian character  is  distinctive.  The  mistake  of  the 
churches  of  America,  from  the  great  awakening 
and  for  a  hundred  years,  was  insistence  on  a 
stereotyped  experience  of  which  one  was  acutely 
conscious  at  a  definite  time. 

The  sense  of  sin,  some  say,  and  say  it  with 
regret,  is  not  as  acute  as  it  was  in  former  times. 
There  is  not  the  deep  conviction  of  sin  that  many 
of  preceding  generations  experienced.  People  do 
not  think  of  themselves  as  sinful  and  only  sinful. 
In  a  general  way,  of  course,  every  one  admits  that 
he  is  not  as  good  as  he  ought  to  be,  yet  there  is 
nothing  that  may  be  called  sorrow  for  sin  and 
deep  repentance.  Approach  to  the  Christian  life, 
it  is  said,  is  no  longer  by  the  way  of  penitence. 
Young  people  that  come  into  the  church  have 
little  to  say  about  their  sins.  Christ  is  not  thought 
of  as  the  Sin-bearer,  but  more  as  Master  and 
Friend.  What  is  desperately  needed  to  the  making 
of  a  Christian,  say  some,  is  a  profound  realization 
of  sin. 

I  imagine  that  tradition  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  the  specific  experience  of  conversion.  It  was 
expected  that  every  one  would  at  some  time  awake 

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REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

to  the  dreadfulness  of  sin,  and  to  the  danger  to 
which  it  exposed  him.  It  was  beheved  that  to  be 
saved  one  must  have  distressing  conviction  of  sin, 
that  this  is  the  first  step  in  the  path  of  salvation. 
Men  and  women,  one's  neighbors  and  acquaint- 
ances, narrated  their  experiences.  In  times  of  re- 
vival it  would  be  said  that  William  or  Mary  was 
"under  conviction."  —  That  which  is  expected  is 
likely  to  occur.  Although,  in  general,  we  probably 
do  not  have  the  thought  of  sin  that  our  ancestors 
had,  yet  we  are  not  altogether  self-approving, 
we  are  dissatisfied  with  ourselves,  we  long  for  a 
better  way  of  life.  Conscience  does  rebuke.  We 
are  greatly  troubled  over  the  evils  of  social  and 
national  life;  we  grieve  over  the  wrongs,  the 
heartlessness,  the  greed  which  work  so  much  evil 
in  society  and  to  the  evil-doers.  And  this  is  not 
exactly  a  sense  of  other  people's  sins;  it  is  the 
social  conscience. 

It  seems  to  me  that  in  this  age  the  Christian 
character  and  life  are  perfectly  distinct,  that  we 
know  what  a  Christian  is,  that  many  grow  up  in 
Christian  nurture  without  a  critical  turning-point 
of  which  they  are  aware,  while  others  more  con- 
sciously are  converted  and  become  Christians. 

A  characteristic  of  the  ideal,  the  Christ-like 

in 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

character,  is  that  it  proceeds  from  the  individual 
to  society,  rather  than  from  society  to  the  in- 
dividual. The  person  is  the  starting-point,  the 
person  is  the  goal  or  end.  Christianity  deals 
directly  with  individuals  rather  than  with  insti- 
tutions and  tendencies.  It  saves  souls  first  and 
creates  institutions  afterwards  and  consequently. 
It  singles  out  individuals,  one  by  one,  and  does 
not  deal  with  them  in  the  mass.  Institutions  are 
expressly  declared  to  be  for  individuals,  and  in- 
dividuals not  to  be  for  institutions,  —  "The 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the 
Sabbath."  This  order  is  frequently  reversed  by 
some  theories  of  the  natural  development  of 
society  which  look  for  improvement  through  ten- 
dencies and  movements,  the  spirit  of  the  age,  the 
Zeitgeist,  an  intellectual  and  moral  atmosphere. 
A  slowly  improving  social  condition  is  to  be  the 
result,  the  individual  a  means  to  this  magnifi- 
cent end.  Christianity  secures  the  temporal  and 
eternal  worth  of  the  individual.  It  undertakes  to 
reach  him,  and  does  reach  him,  in  every  stage  of 
social  progress  and  in  any  stage  of  civilization, 
or  even  in  barbarism  and  savagery.  It  does  not 
wait  for  him  to  be  raised  up  by  general  influences 
of  intelligence  and  culture  to   a  higher   level. 

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REDEMPTION  AND  CONVERSION 

Christianity  finds  the  individual  in  any  land,  — 
in  America,  England,  Africa,  Japan,  —  and  ren- 
ovates him,  so  that  a  new  type  of  character, 
everywhere  essentially  the  same,  appears  the 
world  over.  One  century  need  not  wait  for  another 
which  will  be  more  advantageous.  Paul  did  not 
require  the  conditions  of  the  twentieth  century, 
or  of  the  thirtieth,  in  order  to  reach  men  with  his 
gospel;  nor  did  he  believe  that  the  world  must 
wait  one  or  two  thousand  years  before  any  appre- 
ciable results  in  moral  progress  would  be  visible. 
The  church  and  the  kingdom  of  God  were  dear  to 
him,  nor  did  he  overlook  the  mutual  relations 
of  members  of  the  kingdom,  which  is  made  up 
of  renewed  men  and  women,  which  indeed  had 
already  come  in  the  new  life  of  individuals. 

The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  with  power, 
because  it  is  direct  to  individuals  appealing  to 
conscience  and  aspiration.  Even  in  unrefined 
forms  it  has  this  power.  One  who  visits  a  congre- 
gation of  working  people  may  be  offended  by  the 
homespun  illustrations  and  slang  expressions  of 
the  preacher.  It  may  seem  as  if  religion  is  cheap- 
ened or  caricatured;  and  yet  the  earnest  speaker 
may  have  possession  of,  or  may  be  possessed  by, 
a  lofty  ideal,  which  can  be  made  intelligible  and 

123 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

impressive  to  such  listeners,  and  in  response  to 
which  many  of  them  can  be  brought  not  only  to 
rectitude  but  to  the  gentleness  and  holiness  of 
Christian  life.  It  makes  no  difference,  in  respect 
to  the  ideal  which  is  Christian,  about  nationality, 
class,  culture,  for  it  is  the  ideal  of  human  nature, 
of  man.  So  the  disciple  says  with  profound  mean- 
ing :  "  Seeing  that  ye  have  put  off  the  old  man  with 
his  deeds,  and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  which 
is  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  Him 
that  created  him;  where  there  is  neither  Greek  nor 
Jew,  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision,  .  .  .  bond 
nor  free,  but  Christ  is  all  and  in  all."  One  touch 
of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin.  "Put  on, 
therefore,"  says  an  apostle,  "the  new  man," 
"put  on  a  heart  of  compassion,  kindness,  hu- 
mility, meekness,  long-suffering,  forbearing  one 
another  and  forgiving  each  other,  if  any  man 
have  a  complaint  against  any;  .  .  .  and  above  all 
these  things,  put  on  love,  which  is  the  bond  of 
perfectness."  Such  a  man  is  redeemed,  is  saved, 
is  converted.  He  has  the  faith  which  worketh 
by  love.   He  is  a  Christian. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   SPIRITUAL  MAN 

The  constitution  of  man  has  been  explored  in 
recent  years  as  never  before.  The  brain  has  been 
laid  bare,  as  it  were,  and  actions,  thoughts,  feel- 
ings, traced  to  the  particular  places  where  they 
originate.  An  injury  at  one  point  affects  speech, 
so  that  one  cannot  get  the  word  he  wants,  —  has 
aphasia.  A  suffusion  of  blood  may  suspend 
memory.  Mental  or  brain  excitation,  as  of  anger, 
or  grief,  or  fear,  is  marked  by  access  of  tempera- 
ture. The  brain  is  a  ganglion  of  nerves;  a  center 
from  which  live  wires  proceed  out  to  all  parts  of 
the  body,  flashing  impulses.  There  are  ducts  or 
canals  along  which  thought  and  action  travel. 
Psychology  has  mapped  the  brain,  has  traced  the 
routes  of  sight,  of  hearing,  of  perception,  of  choice, 
has  pictured  the  network  of  nerves  which  cluster 
in  the  brain  and  proceed  down  and  out  through 
the  organism.  While  such  detailed  knowledge  of 
the  human  body  was  not  attained  until  recently, 
yet  the  dependence  of  mind  on  body  and  of  body 

125 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

on  mind  has  been  recognized  so  long  as  men  have 
observed  their  own  actions  and  feelings.  They 
have  always  localized  the  several  functions  of 
thought  and  of  affection;  thought  in  the  head, 
love  in  the  heart.  An  intellectual  person  has  a 
good  head;  a  kindly  person  has  a  good  heart;  he 
has  brains,  she  has  heart. 

Yet  always  there  has  been  perception  of  per- 
sonality, a  self,  an  ego,  a  unity  aware  of  itself,  an 
identity  which  is  single.  The  body  is  not  a  mech- 
anism, but  an  organism,  and,  residing  in  the  body, 
potential  in  the  body,  is  self-consciousness,  an  I, 
a  person.  The  whole  is  more  than  the  sum  of  the 
parts.  Various  words  have  been  coined  to  desig- 
nate self -consciousness;  the  mind,  the  soul,  the 
spirit.  It  has  been  described  as  indivisible,  poten- 
tial, by  Bishop  Butler  in  his  famous  "Analogy," 
and  by  others,  as  we  might  think  of  an  atom, 
or  radium,  or  a  spark,  "vital  spark  of  heavenly 
flame."  The  latest  investigators  use  these  terms, 
must  use  them  —  mind  and  body,  soul  and  body. 
Bergson  finds  in  memory  something  distinct  from 
matter.  Memory  is  the  power  to  recall  past  acts, 
events,  thoughts,  and  to  select  from  among  them. 
It  is  not  like  films  on  which  impressions  have 
been  made,  and  which,  as  the  crank  of  circum- 

126 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

stance  or  association  turns,  are  brought  into  view; 
but  more  like  potential  atoms  surcharged  by 
what  is  put  into  them  and  commanded  by  an 
intelligence  which  marshals  them  at  its  own 
bidding.  There  is  a  centrum,  a  director,  a  con- 
troller, a  presiding  genius,  which,  in  a  way  we 
cannot  know,  decides  and  acts. 

To  enter  into  details  of  psychology  and  phi- 
losophy would  be  tiresome  and  is  needless. 
Psychology,  to  a  degree,  knows  the  how,  the 
process,  but  does  not  know  the  why,  the  power 
itself.  There  is  self-consciousness  and  self -direc- 
tion, and  we  have  to  say  mind,  soul,  spirit,  person. 
So  science  knows  in  part  the  how,  the  process,  of 
the  forces  of  nature.  Atoms  or  molecules  act  so 
and  so,  but  the  potentiality  itself  is  not  known, 
is  a  mystery.  An  atom  is  a  universe,  composed  of 
millions  of  particles  whirling  in  circles  or  ellipses, 
but  whence  came  they,  what  set  them  whirling? 
So  it  is  with  the  soul,  the  mind,  the  spirit.  Dis- 
covery of  all  the  parts  and  of  their  connection  and 
mode  of  action,  does  not  explain  the  whole,  the 
unity,  the  self-conscious,  self-directing  person- 
ality; nor,  on  the  other  hand,  does  it  do  away 
with  it. 

We  can,  in  a  way,  define  personality,  making 
127 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

classification  of  faculties,  as  sense,  understanding, 
reason;  as  understanding,  feeling,  will;  defining, 
that  is,  the  various  ways  in  which  the  person 
directs  himself,  feeling,  knowing,  deciding.  One 
can  stand  outside  one's  self  and  analyze  one's  self. 
I  can  look  at  me,  and  by  the  very  analyzing,  by 
the  being  able  to  do  it,  demonstrate  myself  a 
person.  There  is  the  personality  to  start  with,  and 
all  the  analysis  in  the  world,  all  the  psychology, 
can  only  take  apart  those  elements  which  can 
never,  except  in  thought,  be  separated,  and  which 
constitute  personality.  And  generally  men  have 
not  argued  about  it,  or  thought  much  about  it; 
they  take  the  soul  for  granted.  Even  when  ques- 
tioning or  defining,  it  is  a  mind,  a  soul,  an  intelli- 
gent person  that  questions  and  defines.  I  doubt 
whether  any  sheerest  materialist  acts  according 
to  his  theory.  All  men  act  as  if  there  were  an  I 
presiding,  as  if  they  were  self -directing,  were  free. 
There  was  never  a  fatalist  who  kept  his  own  hands 
off  from  circumstances,  who  had  no  sense  of  ob- 
ligation, who  did  not  approve  himself  or  blame 
himself,  as  the  case  might  be,  or  approve  or  blame 
somebody  else. 

The  heading  of  this  chapter  is,  "The  Spiritual 
Man."    It  might  nearly  as  well  be,  "The  Intel- 

128 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

lectual  Man,"  "The  Rational  Man,"  "The  Moral 
Man,"  or  simply,  "Personality."  It  means  that 
man  is  not  merely  a  physical  creature,  an  animal 
to  be  fed  and  warmed,  but  is  a  person  with  duties, 
aspirations,  ideals,  with  knowledge  of  the  universe 
and  of  God,  a  person  who  can  make  to  himself  a 
character,  a  person  who  appreciates  the  true,  the 
good,  the  beautiful.  These  are  general  terms,  in- 
deed, yet  are  sufficiently  definite  to  characterize 
man  as  a  being  with  sense  of  obligation,  with 
affections,  with  imagination,  with  reason. 

The  word  "spiritual,"  which  has  long  been  as- 
sociated with  religion,  has  now  acquired  a  more 
comprehensive  meaning.  It  signifies  appreciation 
of  those  values  which  are  not  material  or  physical. 
Thus  that  quality  in  art,  in  music,  in  poetry, 
which  is  not  sensuous  and  which  we  cannot 
describe,  we  characterize  as  spiritual.  It  may  be 
heroic,  it  may  be  plaintive,  it  may  be  sympathetic. 
A  teacher  of  literature  finds,  we  say,  the  spiritual 
in  a  poem,  while  another  is  confined  to  philology 
and  versification;  the  one  gets  at  the  soul  of  the 
poem,  the  other  does  not  get  beyond  the  method. 
A  lover  of  music  says  that  he  was  wafted  up  and 
away  with  no  sense  of  his  surroundings,  that  the 
music  was  spiritual.    We  speak  of  the  spiritual 

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A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

in  works  of  art  as  distinguishing  them  from  mere 
photography.  The  spiritual  is  other  than  the 
intellectual,  which  is  only  knowledge  and  logic. 
Culture,  intellectual  refinement,  may  be  sordid; 
an  uncultivated  person  may  be  spiritual.  Spirit- 
uality is  a  feeling,  not  merely  a  thought.  It  is  a 
response,  a  thrill,  which  rushes  at  the  heart  of  the 
matter.  Emotion  rings  true  to  beauty.  Not  think- 
ing of  religion  at  all,  we  say  that  such  a  person 
is  spiritual. 

Turning  now  to  religion,  we  have  thought  of 
the  spiritual  man  as  the  saint,  the  ascetic,  the 
mystic,  a  man  apart,  out  of  the  world  of  men  in 
spirit,  or  even  in  body ;  a  man  untarnished,  a  man 
of  abnegations  and  vigils,  or  at  the  best,  as  a 
mild,  serene,  prayerful  man.  The  saints,  as  we 
have  thought  of  them,  are  a  class  by  themselves, 
in  the  counsels  of  perfection.  Saint  is  a  good  word; 
it  stands  for  something  of  sweetness  and  self-for- 
getf  ulness  that  we  should  be  sorry  to  lose,  but  it 
does  not  stand  in  our  thought  for  virility.  We 
have  superimposed  the  mediaeval  saint  upon 
the  saints  of  the  early  church.  The  word  in  the 
New  Testament  is  used  generally  for  holiness, 
for  righteousness,  for  Christ-likeness;  literally  it 
means  set  apart,  or  consecrated.    At  all  events, 

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THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

now  the  spiritual  has  been  recovered  to  a  large 
and  significant  meaning  for  the  higher  grades  of 
value  in  human  life. 

The  spiritual  man  idealizes  life.  Man  is  an 
idealist,  is  an  ideal-forming  and  an  ideal-realizing 
creature;  that  is,  he  perceives  and  pursues  ends. 
The  rest  of  the  universe  in  what  we  call  its  lower 
stages,  in  the  inorganic  and  in  plants  and  ani- 
mals, is  apparently  unconscious  of  purpose  or 
end.  The  rosebud  does  not  foresee  the  rose  and 
is  not  aware  of  its  own  beauty.  Animals  pursue 
ends  for  the  satisfaction  of  casual  wants,  but  have 
no  aim  for  their  lives,  no  vision  of  a  destiny  to 
be  realized.  iEsop,  Uncle  Remus,  and  Kipling 
anthropomorphize  downwards.  But,  however  it 
may  be  with  the  lower  sentient  orders,  it  certainly 
is  true  that  man  perceives  and  pursues  ends.  He 
does  more  than  satisfy  casual  wants;  he  makes 
plans  for  a  year,  for  a  lifetime,  both  for  himself 
and  for  and  with  the  society  of  which  he  is  a 
member. 

The  pursuit  of  ends  includes  the  entire  range  of 
conscious  wants,  from  the  physical  to  the  spiritual. 
"When  a  man  wants  something,  he  pictures  him- 
self in  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  object. 
A  desired  possession  may  seem  to  be  external,  but 

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A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

is  desired  as  a  source  of  enjoyment  to  the  person; 
is  himself  enjoying  it.  The  satisfaction  of  that 
want  is  his  ideal  of  himself,  and  he  goes  from  one 
want  to  another,  in  an  ascending  series.  Society 
advances  by  the  consciousness  and  supply  of 
new  wants,  from  improved  methods  of  communi- 
cation and  locomotion,  to  widening  knowledge  of 
nature  and  history,  to  more  beautiful  products  of 
art,  to  finer  culture,  to  purer  morality,  to  more  spir- 
itual religion.  Increase  of  wants  means  a  grow- 
ing man.  The  man  that  wants  literature,  music, 
science,  philosophy,  is  the  man  that  is  himself 
literary,  musical,  scientific,  philosophical.  In 
other  words,  every  person  has  some  ideal  of  him- 
self and  his  pursuit  of  objects  is  the  attainment 
of  his  ideal  self. 

This  is  especially  true  of  morality  and  religion. 
A  moral  person  may  be  characterized  as  one  who 
perceives  an  ideal  which  ought  to  be  realized. 
Duty  is  that  which  ought  to  be,  an  idea,  a  picture, 
an  ideal  which  is  perceived  before  it  is  realized, 
and  is  perceived  as  that  which  ought  to  be  real- 
ized. Acomplete  ethical  system  of  principles,  rules, 
and  maxims  is  the  ideal  of  a  perfect  and  symmet- 
rical character.  It  is  a  delineation  of  the  man  who 
combines  all  good  qualities,  and  of  a  society  com- 

132 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

posed  of  such  men.  The  moral  law-giver  brings 
an  ideal  to  the  actual  practice  of  the  people;  he 
has  seen  a  pattern  in  the  mount.  The  ten  words 
on  stone  tablets  are  ten  bold  lines  which  trace  the 
salient  features  of  a  good  man.  The  decalogue 
might  be  regarded  as  the  profile  of  a  perfect  man, 
like  a  great  stone  face,  showing  clear-cut  in  mas- 
sive features  against  the  sky.  The  psalmist  por- 
trays the  blessed  man  who  is  like  a  tree  by  the  riv- 
ers of  waters.  Buddhism  describes  the  man  with 
thirty  graces,  who  is  like  a  lotus-flower,  untar- 
nished by  the  water  or  the  mud,  a  child  of  the  clear, 
cold  stream.  Now  there  never  was  such  an  Israel- 
ite nor  such  a  Buddhist,  but  morality  must  have 
in  view  an  ideal,  partial  or  complete,  must  either 
take  actual  men  that  have  exhibited  virtue  in 
some  of  its  aspects,  or  must  combine  into  an  ideal 
character  virtues  which  are  scattered  and  sug- 
gested in  several  persons.  The  most  vital  inquiry 
of  ethical  philosophers  is  inquiry  concerning  the 
nature  of  the  ideal.  Systems  of  ethics  have  their 
chief  difference  in  definition  of  the  supreme  good, 
the summumbonum,wh.ich  is  the  ideal  person.  The 
newest  philosophy,  tracing  the  genesis  and  devel- 
opment of  personality,  finds  it  in  the  attainment 
of  an  ideal  by  imitation  of  other  persons,  who  are 

133 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

points  of  initiation,  and  finds  that  the  process  is 
chiefly  ethical,  through  social  relations,  customs, 
and  institutions,  and  religious  in  that  the  ideal 
enlarges  and  recedes  toward  the  perfect  and 
absolute. 

Here  in  all  religions  is  the  meaning  of  sin  and 
guilt,  of  salvation,  redemption,  regeneration  and 
sanctification.  The  ideal  person  is  in  view.  Sin 
is  doing  what  one  ought  not  to  do,  which  really 
is  being  what  one  ought  not  to  be.  It  is  failure 
to  attain  the  ideal,  and  in  many  languages  is  so 
characterized,  as  missing  the  mark.  Sin  is  selfish- 
ness, which  is  satisfying  the  lower  instead  of  the 
higher  wants;  that  is,  it  is  the  bad  actual  in  place 
of  the  good  ideal  person.  Salvation  is  converting 
a  wrong  person  into  a  right  person,  and  not  escape 
from  pain,  since  penalty  can  be  escaped  only  by 
transformation  of  the  person.  Regeneration,  as 
the  word  signifies,  is  recovery  of  the  genus,  the 
type,  as  degeneration  is  departure  from  the  genus. 
Redemption  is  redeeming  a  man  to  himself. 
Sanctification  is  the  perfecting  of  a  person  accord- 
ing to  an  ideal.  Here  also  is  the  conception  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which  is  the 
ideal  society  composed  of  ideal  persons,  a  renewed 
or  ideaUzed  humanity  in  a  new  earth  wherein 

134 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

dwelleth  righteousness.  The  spiritual  man  is  he 
who  perceives  the  ideal. 

Religion,  I  say,  is  perception  of  the  ideal  and 
effort  to  realize  it.  It  is  objective  towards  God, 
but  it  is  beliefs  about  God,  —  what  He  is,  his  char- 
acter, we  might  say.  The  requirements  of  God 
reveal  his  character.  What  doth  He  require  of 
thee  but  to  love  mercy  and  do  justly  and  walk 
humbly  with  thy  God?  Such  requirements  show 
what  God  is,  and  show  that  we  are  made  in  his 
image,  —  the  ideal  man  a  reflection  of  God.  The 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  a  character  sketch.  The 
Beatitudes  picture  a  blessed  person;  anger,  lust, 
revenge  in  thought,  even  if  one  does  not  do  the 
wicked  act,  are  condemned;  alms-giving,  prayer, 
fasting,  should  be  in  secret,  —  from  the  heart, 
and  not  to  win  applause;  seek  not  with  greatest 
anxiety  material  things  but  be  anxious  about 
spiritual  things;  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
his  righteousness. 

Changes  in  religious  belief  and  practice  are 
changes  in  the  conception  of  the  ideal  man,  the 
spiritual  man,  and  it  is  here  that  comparison  of  one 
period  with  another  can  be  made.  It  would  be 
an  interesting  study  to  ascertain  the  ideals  of 
the  several  eras  of  Christianity;  the  Oriental  or 

135 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Jewish  Christian,  the  Greek  Christian,  the  Latin 
Christian,  the  Augustinian,  the  Reformation,  the 
Puritan  ideals.  It  really  would  be  one  way  of 
tracing  the  advances  of  civilization.  It  would  in- 
volve a  valuation  of  the  interests  which  men  have 
regarded  as  of  greatest  worth. 

A  century  ago,  and  later,  doctrine  and  practice 
show  the  ideal  which  was  then  cherished;  not  that 
it  was  defined  as  an  ideal,  though  the  words  jus- 
tification and  sanctification  indicate  character. 
The  Puritan  strain  predominated.  We  are  accus- 
tomed to  think  of  it  as  the  religion  of  conscience, 
which  worked  largely  on  the  side  of  negation  and 
of  prohibition.  The  law  of  God  is  the  decalogue, 
and  all  but  one  of  the  Ten  Commandments  say, 
"Thou  shalt  not."  The  things  we  should  not 
do  imply  the  things  we  should  do,  to  be  sure;  but 
emphasis  was  on  the  prohibition.  Sunday,  as  the 
young  people  one  hundred  years  ago  endured  it, 
was  a  blue-letter  rather  than  a  red-letter  day, 
a  day  on  which  certain  things  could  not  be  done, 
neither  work,  diversion,  nor  study.  The  writer 
has  been  reproved  in  boyhood  for  reading  Ban- 
croft's "History  of  the  United  States"  on  Sunday, 
a  book  it  was  diflBcult  to  make  him  read  any  other 
day.   Sunday  was  for  church,  Bible  and  religious 

136 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

books.  Amusements,  except  such  quiet  games  as 
checkers,  backgammon,  and  authors,  were  pro- 
hibited. The  good  old  virtues  of  truthfulness, 
honesty,  purity,  were  exalted.  A  child  who  told 
a  lie  was  in  disgrace  and  was  severely  punished: 
"Do  you  know  what  becomes  of  liars?"  The 
temptation  to  lie  was  often  strong,  in  order  to 
cover  over  some  trivial  transgression,  but  truth- 
fulness was  a  cardinal  virtue.  It  was  bad  to  do  it 
but  worse  to  lie  about  it,  and  we  think  so  now. 

Domestic  life  was  rather  stiff.  Too  often,  not 
in  all  families,  there  was  little  display  of  affection 
from  parents  to  children.  The  father  was  ruler, 
must  be  obeyed.  (Sometimes  it  was  the  mother.) 
The  mother  was  often  the  child's  confidant,  and 
she,  perhaps,  would  shield  the  child  from  the  fa- 
ther's reproof.  Parents  were  not  their  children's 
companions  but  rather  their  governors.  Of  course, 
there  were  many  exceptions;  delightful  home  life 
was  not  unknown;  but  in  well-regulated  families, 
childhood  was  a  time  of  repression.  There  was 
strength  and  fiber  in  the  character  of  the  stern, 
upright,  unswerving  Calvinist,  but  as  a  type  it 
lacked  beauty  and  grace. 

Was  there  not  also  a  certain  separation  of  re- 
ligion from  secular  life?  Not  that  our  grandfathers 

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A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

did  not  engage  in  secular  affairs  —  far  from  it;  nor 
that  they  did  wrong,  were  dishonest.  They  were 
shrewd,  enterprising,  mercantile,  progressive.  It  is 
wonderful  what  they  did,  developing  the  resources 
of  the  coimtry,  extending  commerce,  sailing  ships 
to  all  parts  of  the  earth;  but  it  was  apart  from  the 
religious  life,  at  least  in  thought.  Religion  con- 
sisted in  beliefs  and  practices.  Just  as  Sunday 
was  for  religion,  the  week  for  work,  so  work  was 
not  religious.  They  did  not  say,  Laborare  est  orare. 
Work  was  not  irreligious  but  non-religious,  —  just 
necessary,  —  and  religion  an  affair  by  itself.  Some 
were  inclined  to  lament  that  the  demands  of  busi- 
ness gave  so  little  time,  not  only  for  their  homes, 
but  for  religion.  So  with  society:  the  social  was 
independent  of  the  religious  life.  Entertainments, 
parties,  amusements,  were  looked  on  askance. 
Worldliness,  they  thought,  was  the  note  of  social 
festivities:  at  any  rate,  there  was  nothing  reli- 
gious about  them;  they  were  non-religious. 

In  broad  contrast  or  comparison  of  present  with 
former  conceptions,  it  may  be  said  that  the  ideal 
is  Christ,  the  perfect  man;  that  the  law  of  his  life 
is  the  true  law  or  principle  of  character.  He  was 
the  spiritual  man.  The  ideal  of  personal  worth 
was  clearly  presented  in  the  character  of  Jesus. 

138 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

He  embodied  every  precept  He  enunciated,  and 
embodied  it  perfectly.  He  did  not  struggle  up 
painfully  and  with  only  partial  success  towards  an 
ever-receding  ideal.  The  marvel  and  the  power 
of  the  life  of  Jesus  is  his  perfection,  the  ideal  made 
real.  He  did  not  say,  "I  seek  the  truth  and  the 
life,"  but,  "I  am  the  truth  and  the  life."  His  per- 
fection has  been  described  in  various  ways,  all  of 
which  show  the  symmetry  of  his  character.  Ap- 
parent opposites  are  united :  compassion  and  in- 
dignation, gentleness  and  strength,  freedom  and 
obedience,  contemplation  and  action,  repose  and 
energy,  calmness  and  zeal,  sorrow  and  joy.  All 
of  his  character  went  into  each  quality.  There 
was  always  appropriateness  of  act  and  word  to 
the  occasion.  No  virtue  was  in  excess  or  dispro- 
portion; no  good  trait  slid  off  into  its  counterfeits; 
the  delicate  balance  was  never  disturbed.  Criti- 
cisms have  indeed  been  pointed  at  some  lack  or 
excess  in  the  character  of  Jesus,  but  have  not 
been  well  taken.  If  He  was  angry,  it  is  seen  that 
his  anger  was  justifiable  and  was  more  virtuous 
than  an  easy  toleration.  If  He  was  compassionate 
to  notorious  sinners,  it  is  seen  that  it  was  a  re- 
claiming compassion,  and  that  the  pity  of  purity 
is  holier  than  the  condenmation  of  contempt. 

139 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

There  have  been  representations  of  the  character 
of  Jesus  as  having  the  passive  virtues  only,  meek- 
ness, gentleness,  non-resistance,  attuned  to  the 
minor  key.  Mediseval  art  so  represented  Him 
—  a  sad  face,  a  sorrowful  countenance;  but  He 
was  strong,  virile,  positive.  He  spoke  as  one  hav- 
ing authority,  He  drove  out  of  the  temple  those 
who  made  a  gain  of  religion,  He  sternly  rebuked 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees.  The  disciples  were  sur- 
prised at  his  gentleness,  his  kindness  to  mothers 
and  children.  His  was  a  commanding  presence,  as 
commanding  as  it  was  attractive.  The  powerless- 
ness  of  criticism  to  discover  flaws  in  the  symmetry 
and  harmony  of  Jesus'  character  has  given  cer- 
tainty to  the  agreeing  opinion  that  He  is  the  great- 
est of  the  holy  and  the  holiest  of  the  great.  When 
we  put  the  best  ideal  we  can  form  by  the  side  of 
the  historical  Jesus,  its  every  truthful  feature  is 
reproduced  in  Him,  yet  He,  the  actual  person, 
transcends  it. 

Although  the  ideal  is  personal,  is  a  character, 
it  is  not  an  ideal  of  the  person  in  isolation.  The 
perfection  of  the  individual  is  found  in  right  re- 
lation to  other  persons.  The  law  of  love  dominates 
a  good  person:  it  dominated  Jesus.  The  ideal  He 
presents  is  a  person  who  loves  others  according  to 

140 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

their  need.  The  service  of  love  is  determined,  not 
by  affinities,  or  standing  or  reputation,  but  by 
need.  It  is  not  enough  to  do  good  to  those  who 
do  good  to  us;  we  should  do  good  to  those  who 
need  what  we  can  impart.  Self-impartation  is  a 
characteristic  of  the  ideal  person.  Jesus  expressed 
it  as  a  law  of  life  in  the  words,  "The  Son  of  Man 
came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister." 
There  had  been  some  perception  of  this  law  in 
Judaism:  the  precept,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself,"  was  to  be  found  in  the  books  of 
Moses,  but  the  application  was  restricted  chiefly 
to  the  nation.  The  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan 
gave  a  new  definition  of  neighborhood.  Here  and 
there  an  individual  perceived  the  law  and,  on 
occasions,  practiced  it,  but  usually  under  local 
or  class  restrictions.  Jesus  made  it  a  central  and 
controlling  law  of  his  own  life  and  of  all  true  life. 
He  poured  out  the  wealth  of  his  character  in  a 
ministration  which  was  the  impartation  of  self. 
Whatever  greatness  one  has,  He  said,  is  the 
measure,  not  of  exaction,  but  of  service.  He  who 
is  great  should  serve,  because  he  who  is  great  can 
serve.  And  greatness  is  attained  by  service, "  Who- 
soever would  become  great  among  you,  shall  be 
your  minister." 

141 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Because  the  perfect  character  imparts  itself, 
even  at  the  cost  of  suffering,  the  cross  is  the  sym- 
bol of  that  which  Jesus  personified.  The  cross  is 
complete  self-giving.  The  service  of  others,  ac- 
cording to  their  need,  in  teaching,  in  sympathy, 
in  self-impartation,  is  an  essential  element  in 
the  personal  ideal  of  perfection.  The  character 
of  Jesus  is  the  complete  and  final  revelation  of 
the  human  ideal.  Philanthropists  and  reformers 
apply  the  precepts  and  example  of  Jesus  to  society 
and  the  individual.  The  type  He  presented  has 
not  been  superseded,  is  still  in  advance.  Many 
transformations  are  needed  before  society  will  be 
Christian.  If  it  were  truly  Christian  there  would 
be  the  ideal  State.  There  is  no  other  morality  of 
which  that  can  be  said.  He  would  be  laughed  at 
who  should  seriously  maintain  that  society  needs 
to  become  Platonic,  or  Confucian,  or  Buddhistic. 
The  Christian  ideal  for  society  is  still  in  advance. 
Even  those  who  are  outside  of  the  Church,  and 
opposed  to  it,  say  that  business,  politics,  social 
relations,  need  to  become  Christian.  The  ideal 
which  Jesus  set  before  men  is  the  kind  of  goodness 
all  men  should  seek  to  realize. 

We  have  now  passed  from  the  Christ  of  the- 
ology to  the  Jesus  of  history,  from  doctrine  to 

142 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN 

life;  from  salvation  as  external,  to  salvation 
as  internal.  The  saved  man  is  he  in  whom  the 
spirit  of  Christ  dwells.  The  spirit  of  Christ  is 
Christ-likeness.  The  new  man  is  the  spiritual 
man. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ETERNAL   LIFE 

A  HUNDRED  years  ago,  and  later,  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  a  life  after  death,  was  taken  for  granted. 
While  individuals  may,  sometimes,  have  doubted 
it,  —  as  indeed  at  all  times  there  have  been  those 
who  doubted  or  denied  it,  —  yet  generally  there 
was  no  question  of  it.  Indeed,  it  loomed  large  and 
distinct  on  the  earthly  horizon.  It  was  regarded 
as  a  state  of  rewards  and  punishments  for  the 
deeds  done  in  the  body.  Heaven  was  pictured  in 
the  imagery  of  the  last  book  of  the  Bible,  as  a  city 
of  pearly  gates  and  golden  floors,  of  effulgent 
light,  of  the  redeemed  in  white  robes  and  starry 
crowns,  of  perpetual  worship,  a  place  where  there 
shall  be  no  more  sorrow  nor  crying,  a  place  of 
rest,  of  peace,  of  glory.  And  hell  was  real,  a  place 
of  physical  anguish,  of  fire  that  is  not  quenched, 
into  which  those  who  do  not  believe  in  Christ,  the 
unredeemed,  the  wicked,  will  be  cast. 

The  appeal  to  men  to  accept  Christ  was  with 
motive  of  urgency,  in  view  of  eternal  life  and  dan- 
ger of  everlasting  pain.    There  was  the  idea  of 

144 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

character,  of  the  redeemed  as  Christ-like,  yet 
safety  was  a  prime  consideration.  The  penalty  of 
sin  would  be  imposed  at  the  day  of  judgment,  and 
the  penalty  is  hell;  therefore  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come.  The  belief  that  Christ  bore  the  penalty 
of  sin  and  so  God's  justice  was  satisfied  would  be 
meaningless  unless  the  future  is  in  view,  unless  the 
penalty  of  sin  is  everlasting  punishment.  While 
the  conception  of  heaven  and  of  hell  may  not 
have  been  the  same  to  all  persons,  some  thinking 
of  them  literally  as  external,  as  localities,  others 
thinking  of  them  as  character  of  goodness  and 
of  badness,  others  as  both  character  and  en- 
vironment, yet  salvation  and  reprobation  were 
projected  into  the  life  beyond  death  with  perfect 
distinctness.  That  this  is  a  correct  representation 
of  the  thought  of  that  time  is  evident  from  the 
significanceofUniversalism,  which  arose  a  century 
ago  and  crystallized  into  a  sect  or  church.  It  was 
a  protest  against  hell.  It  was  the  belief  that  no 
human  being  will  suffer  everlastingly,  but  that 
all  ultimately  will  be  saved. 

That  the  conception  of  the  future  life  is  some- 
what changed,  cannot  be  doubted.  It  may  seem 
also  that  there  is  not  so  clear  and  strong  certainty 
respecting  the  continuance  of  life  after  death,  that 

145 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

now  survival  is  very  much  in  question,  and  by 
many  not  believed  at  all.  The  change  or  modi- 
fication of  this  belief  can  best  be  marked  by  trav- 
ersing the  grounds  on  which  belief  in  immor- 
tality rests,  and  suggesting  the  more  spiritual 
nature  of  eternal  life. 

Everybody  has  the  thought  of  immortality,  of 
a  life  which  physical  death  does  not  extinguish. 
That  this  thought  ever  got  into  the  mind  of  man, 
who  sees  the  dissolution  of  death,  is  something 
to  be  accounted  for.  He  who  says  he  does  not 
believe  in  immortality  is  very  apt  to  say  that  he 
has  abandoned  the  hope.  It  is  a  thought  that  he 
had,  whether  told  him  or  instinctive,  —  a  thought 
that  he  was  capable  of  having  and  did  have,  and 
that  he  has,  or  thinks  he  has,  relinquished.  He 
has  spelt  the  word  "Eternity."  It  is  not  the  case 
that  he  argued  himself  into  it,  and  so  can  argue 
himself  out  of  it,  for  still  he  has  the  thought,  al- 
though he  may  suppose  the  fact  does  not  corre- 
spond to  the  thought.  It  is  not  as  though  the  ex- 
pectation of  immortality  was  indulged  for  a  time, 
say  a  few  hundred  years,  while  for  thousands  of 
years  before  there  was  no  such  expectation;  or 
as  though  certain  peoples  but  not  others,  certain 
countries,  but  not  others,  cherished  the  belief. 

146 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

The  thought  of  immortality  is  universaL  Those 
who  hope  for  Nirvana,  nothingness,  do  not  ex- 
pect to  get  it  just  by  dying,  for  there  may  be  many 
reincarnations;  and  Nirvana  itself  is  not  exactly 
annihilation,  but  conscious  non-existence:  the 
person  will  be  aware  that  he  does  not  exist,  and 
so  will  be  very  happy;  though  it  is  said  that  not 
the  extinction  of  self,  but  of  selfishness,  is  meant, 
—  the  merging  of  self  in  the  absolute. 

In  one  aspect  of  the  case,  survival  after  death 
seems  impossible.  The  body  dies;  physical  func- 
tions cease;  there  is  no  communication,  no  re- 
sponse. Ancients  knew,  as  well  as  moderns  know, 
that  the  mind-life,  the  soul-life,  is  a  body-life,  and 
that  the  body  dies  and  decays.  The  analogy  of  a 
tree  which,  stripped  and  bare  in  winter,  revives  in 
spring,  is  superficial,  for  the  tree  does  not  die.  So 
said  an  ancient  writer:  — 

For  there  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down  that  it  will 
sprout  again,  and  that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will 
not  cease. 

Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth,  and 
the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground; 

Yet,  through  the  scent  of  water,  it  will  bud,  and 
bring  forth  boughs  like  a  plant. 

But  man  dieth,  and  wasteth  away;  yea,  man  giveth 
up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he? 

147 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

If  a  man  die  shall  he  live  again? 

His  sons  come  to  honour,  and  he  knoweth  it  not; 
and  they  are  brought  low,  but  he  perceiveth  it  not 
of  them. 

Yet  men  have  always  believed  in  immortality, 
despite  the  grimness  of  death  and  the  silence  of 
the  dead.  The  belief  has  been  more  influential 
at  some  times  than  at  other  times,  is  probably 
less  influential  now  than  it  was  a  hundred  years 
ago.  And  there  have  always  been  some  who 
denied  immortality,  who  have  either  said,  "Let 
us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die,"  or  have 
said,  "Death  is  sad,  inexpressibly  sad,  but  it  is 
final."  Yet  they  are  few  that  relinquish  the  hope 
altogether,  if  it  is  nothing  more,  as  Walter  Pater 
says,  than  "a  vague  sense  of  eternal  continuity, 
with  which  none  of  us  wholly  part." 

How  great  the  interest  in  the  opinion  of  a  scien- 
tist that  human  life  continues !  When  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge  declares  that  there  is  but  a  thin  partition 
between  the  dead  and  the  living,  that  we  can  hear 
the  hammers  breaking  down  the  wall,  it  is  pub- 
lished far  and  wide.  Psychic  research,  peering 
into  the  unseen,  fancying  that  an  echo  bounds 
back,  an  echoed  thought  or  expression,  engages 
eager  attention.   Granted,  say  psychic  investiga- 

148 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

tors,  that  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  spiritualistic 
manifestations  are  fraudulent,  yet  there  is  one 
per  cent  that  cannot  be  explained  as  other  than 
a  mental  impact  from  the  unseen  universe.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  belief  in  immortality  that 
there  should  be  communications  from  the  de- 
parted; indeed,  firm  believers  in  survival  after 
death  scout  the  assumption  that  there  are  such 
communications;  but  there  is  a  keen  interest  in 
the  investigations.  Modern  research  is  amazed 
at  the  potencies  of  the  invisible,  of  the  minute, 
infinitesimal  points  of  origin.  Keys  four  thousand 
miles  apart,  pitched  to  the  same  tone,  respond 
instantly  to  each  other,  though  mountain  ranges 
intervene.  These  mysterious  potencies  do  not 
prove  that  souls  survive  death,  but  do  bid  us 
halt  in  affirming  that  such  a  potency  as  the  soul 
of  man  does  not  and  cannot  survive  physical 
death. 

So  science  to-day,  exploring  the  physical  and 
the  psychic,  affirms  that  it  has  nothing  to  say 
against  the  continuance  of  personality  after  death, 
saying  only  that  it  is  beyond  the  sphere  of  ob- 
servation and  experience.  Evolution  has  nothing 
to  say  against  it.  Evolution  indicates  that  in- 
completeness will  come  to  completeness.    John 

149 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Fiske  says:  "The  more  thoroughly  we  compre- 
hend the  process  of  evolution  by  which  things  have 
come  to  be  what  they  are,  the  more  we  are  likely 
to  feel  that  to  deny  the  everlasting  persistence  of 
the  spiritual  element  in  man  is  to  rob  the  whole 
process  of  its  meaning.  It  goes  far  towards  put- 
ting us  to  permanent  intellectual  confusion,  and 
I  do  not  see  that  any  one  has  as  yet  alleged,  or 
is  ever  likely  to  allege,  a  sufficient  reason  for  our 
accepting  so  dire  an  alternative.  .  .  .  According  to 
Mr.  Spencer,  the  divine  energy  which  is  manifested 
throughout  the  knowable  universe  is  the  same  en- 
ergy that  wells  up  in  us  as  consciousness.  Speak- 
ing for  myself,  I  can  see  no  insuperable  difficulty 
in  the  notion  that  at  some  period  in  the  evolution 
of  humanity  this  divine  spark  may  have  acquired 
sufficient  concentration  and  steadiness  to  survive 
the  wreck  of  material  forces,  and  endure  forever. 
Such  a  crowning  wonder  seems  to  me  no  more 
than  the  fit  climax  to  a  creative  work  that  has 
been  ineffably  beautiful  and  marvellous  in  all  its 
myriad  stages."  An  eminent  physician  and  psy- 
chologist, admitting  that  continuance  after  death 
cannot  be  demonstrated,  says  that  he  himself  has 
come  to  the  opinion  of  Cicero,  who  would  rather 
be  mistaken  with  Plato  than  be  in  the  right  with 

150 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

those  who  deny  altogether  the  life  after  death; 
and  this,  he  says,  is  his  confession  of  faith. 

It  comes  back  to  personality.  There  is  an  ab- 
solute character  to  personality,  it  has  absolute 
worth.  The  soul,  the  self-conscious  I,  is  related 
to  the  ultimate  reality,  to  the  imperishable,  ever- 
lasting God.  However  future  life  is  pictured,  con- 
viction of  it  is  rooted  in  the  quality  of  human 
nature,  in  the  fact  of  personality,  and  we  cannot 
be  rid  of  it.  A  person  cannot  think  of  himself  as 
ceasing  to  exist. 

It  is  on  a  range  of  facts  and  experiences  not 
material  or  physical  that  the  belief  in  immortality 
rests,  although  the  material,  which  is  life  and 
motion,  does  not  contradict  it. 

The  basis  of  the  belief  is  the  fact  that  we  know 
God.  This  evanescent,  short-lived  being  has  the 
thought  of  God,  the  everlasting  God;  knows  God. 
The  universe  is  seen  to  be  under  laws,  to  express 
thought  and  plan,  which  certainly  are  not  the 
thought  and  plan  of  man.  An  animal  does  not 
perceive  thought,  perceive  plan,  perceive  God  in 
the  world,  but  simply  roams  about  in  search  of 
food.  A  creature  that  can  grasp  the  thought  of 
God,  can  think  God,  is  more  than  a  physical 
creature.  He  is  like  God  in  that  which  is  not 

151 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

physical,  in  the  intellectual.  He  is  intellectually 
united  to  God,  who  is  from  everlasting  to  ever- 
lasting, who  does  not  die.  Though  the  span  of 
earthly  life  is  brief,  yet  it  is  a  life  which  has  a 
conscious  relation  to  the  Eternal  Spirit. 

The  mere  thought  of  God  attaches  man,  the 
thinker,  to  the  everlasting.  The  part  that  thinks, 
the  invisible  spirit  of  man,  is  in  vital  relation  with 
God,  the  Eternal  Spirit.  More  than  that,  man 
trusts  and  loves  God.  He  perceives  the  will  or 
plan  of  God  for  him  and  embraces  it,  so  finding 
peace,  strength  and  the  very  reason  of  his  life. 
This  is  the  constitution  or  nature  of  man,  as  truly 
as  his  power  to  eat  and  drink  and  sleep  and  wake. 
Say  there  is  no  God,  say  man  does  not  know  God, 
and  you  may  say  man  is  not  immortal,  though 
in  the  very  denial  of  God  and  of  knowledge  of 
Him,  you  affirm  the  thought  or  conception  of 
Him,  a  thought  of  the  eternal.  You  cannot  deny 
a  thought  you  do  not  have.  Jesus,  who  had  more 
insight  into  moral  and  spiritual  realities  than  any 
man  has  had,  did  not  undertake  to  prove  immor- 
tality. The  only  word  approaching  a  proof  is  his 
assertion  that  man  knows  God.  To  the  Saddu- 
cees,  who  did  not  believe  in  a  resurrection.  He 
said:  "  Now  that  the  dead  are  raised,  even  Moses 

152 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

shewed  at  the  bush  when  he  calleth  Jehovah 
the  God  of  Abraham  and  the  God  of  Isaac  and 
the  God  of  Jacob.  For  he  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living:  for  all  live  unto  Him.** 
God  and  Abraham  know  each  other,  therefore 
Abraham  is  immortal. 

There  are  values  of  life  which  are  absolute,  pos- 
sessions which  are  eternal.  These  values,  these 
possessions,  make  us  what  we  are,  persons. 

Beauty  is  an  absolute  value.  You  see  that  an 
object  is  beautiful.  You  call  another  to  admire, 
and  he  says,  "Beautiful.'*  Looking  at  the  portico 
of  a  temple,  one  perceives  that  the  various  parts 
are  so  related  in  proportion  as  to  suggest  per- 
fection. It  is  a  thought  of  the  mind  expressed 
visibly:  a  truth  embodied,  an  ideal  realized. 
Plato,  or  some  ancient  philosopher,  called  beauty 
the  splendor  of  truth,  the  outshining  of  truth. 
Symmetry  is  determined  by  ratios  and  propor- 
tions. The  beauty  of  Greek  architecture  depends 
on  mathematical  rules,  as  of  the  diameter  of  a  col- 
umn to  its  height.  Beautiful  architecture  is  the 
outshining,  the  splendor  of  mathematical  truth, 
and  mathematical  truth  is  absolute:  you  cannot 
change  it.  The  musical  scale  is  mathematical; 
the  sweetness  or  harshness  of  the  tone,  its  quality 

153 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

as  joyous  or  sorrowful,  as  tender  or  defiant,  is 
conditioned  by  the  length  and  rapidity  of  vibra- 
tions. The  beauty  is  the  outshining  or  splendor 
of  exact  mathematical  truth  which  is  absolute  and 
eternal.  What,  now,  has  this  to  do  with  immor- 
tality? It  has  this  to  do  with  it,  that  beauty  ex- 
presses absolute  perfection,  reveals  eternal  truths 
or  ideals,  and  that  the  mind  which  perceives,  the 
mind  which  creates  beauty,  has  itself  an  absolute 
quality,  is  in  relation  to  necessary,  eternal  truth. 
Beauty  is  the  splendor  of  the  thought  of  God, 
the  splendor  of  the  divine.  We  cannot  help 
speaking  of  the  noblest  works  of  art  as  immortal, 
as  divine.  Abt  Vogler  improvised  on  the  organ 
a  magnificent  beautiful  temple  of  harmony,  and 
reflected :  — 

I  know  not  if,  save  in  this,  such  gift  be  allowed  to  man, 
That  out  of  three  sounds  he  frame,  not  a  fourth  sound, 
but  a  star. 
Consider  it  well:  each  tone  of  our  scale  in  itself  is  naught: 
It  is  everywhere  in  the  world  —  loud,  soft,  and  all  is 
said: 
Give  it  to  me  to  use!  I  mix  it  with  two  in  my  thought: 
And  there!    Ye  have  heard  and  seen:  consider  and  bow 
the  head ! 

Then  it  was  gone  and  all  was  still  in  the  cathe- 
dral. Yet 

154 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

There  shall  never  be  one  lost  good!   What  was,  shall  live 
on  as  before;  .  .  . 
On  the  earth  the  broken  arcs;  in  the  heaven  a  perfect 
round. . .  . 
All  we  have  willed  or  hoped  or  dreamed  of  good,  shall  exist; 
Not  its  semblance,  but  itself;  no  beauty,  nor  good,  nor 
power 
Whose  voice  has  gone  forth,  but   each   survives  for  the 
melodist 
When  eternity  affirms  the  conception  of  an  hour. 

Professor  Shaler,  the  geologist,  said:  "The  fact 
that  nature  is  beautiful  to  us,  that  its  action 
meets  a  swift  response  in  our  minds,  is  best  ex- 
plained —  is  hardly  explicable  otherwise  —  by 
supposing  that  its  informing  spirit  is  akin  to  our 
own." 

Character  is  an  absolute  value.  No  one  has 
ever  seen  character,  or  touched  it.  It  is  expressed 
in  the  face,  it  is  suggested  in  words,  it  is  embodied 
in  acts,  but  it  does  not  occupy  space,  it  cannot  be 
seen  through  a  microscope.  It  can  be  described, 
but  not  in  physical  terms.  It  is  a  moral,  spiritual 
force.  It  is  rightness.  The  right  is  imperative,  to 
be  done  at  all  hazards:  the  right  is  absolute.  One 
doing  the  right  builds  up  a  righteous  character, 
so  that  one  is  sensitive  to  right  and  abhorrent  of 
wrong,  detects  in  every  relation  the  righteous,  the 
noble,  the  honorable.    A  right  man  will  sacrifice 

155 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

fortune  rather  than  do  wrong,  will  die  rather  than 
disgrace  himself.  The  feeling  of  obligation  which 
impels  a  man  to  sacrifice  comfort,  pleasure,  friend- 
ship, and  life  itself,  gives  man  his  nobility.  Every 
one  has  this  feeling  of  obligation,  of  duty,  and  has 
it  every  day  of  his  life,  yet  regards  it  with  rever- 
ence, almost  with  awe.  As  familiar  as  the  starry 
heavens,  it  also,  like  those  countless  distant  orbs, 
excites  unfailing  wonder.  This,  in  fact,  is  the 
standard  comparison,  repeated  in  the  well-known 
saying  of  Kant:  "Two  things  fill  the  mind  with 
ever  new  and  increasing  admiration  and  awe,  the 
starry  heavens  above  and  the  moral  law  within." 
The  Psalmist  apostrophized  the  same  associa- 
tion of  natural  and  moral  law :  — 

The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God :  and  the  firma- 
ment sheweth  his  handiwork; 

The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the 
soul:  .  .  . 

The  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening 
the  eyes. 

Man  knows  the  eternal  law  of  God,  and  in  re- 
sponse to  that  law  builds  a  character  of  truth, 
righteousness,  and  love;  is  a  truthful,  pure,  noble, 
loving  soul.  This  is  permanent,  it  has  eternal 
quality,  it  is  eternal  life.  The  true,  the  beautiful, 

156 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

the  good,  which  have  no  physical  valuation,  are 
absolute,  eternal  possessions,  the  inheritance 
which  is  incorruptible  and  undefiled  and  that 
fadeth  not  away. 

And  friendship  is  an  absolute,  an  eternal  value. 
The  "In  Memoriam"  of  Tennyson  is  on  the  im- 
mortality of  friendship.  The  response  of  mind  to 
mind,  of  heart  to  heart,  of  soul  to  soul,  is  a  pre- 
monition of  immortality.  Where,  now,  does 
friendship  dwell.''  In  a  lobe  of  the  brain?  It  is 
person  to  person;  moral,  appreciative,  refined, 
companionable  persons.  When  the  body  dies,  the 
friend,  a  spiritual  personality,  exists. 

An  Oxford  professor,  lecturing  a  few  years  ago 
at  Harvard,  spent  a  week  in  the  home  of  a  well- 
known  professor  there.  He  was  very  nearsighted 
and  not  quick  to  recognize  voices.  He  did  not 
know  his  friends  when  he  saw  them,  in  fact,  he 
did  not  see  them,  but  knew  them,  he  said,  by  their 
ways  of  thinking.  His  daughter  said  that  he 
would  know  his  friends  without  their  bodies. 
A  remark,  we  say,  is  characteristic.  Repeated,  a 
flash  of  wit,  a  happy,  original  illustration,  one 
exclaims:  "I  know  who  said  that;  it  sounds  just 
like  him;  only  one  person  thinks  like  that." 
Friendship,  society  on  earth,  the  best  thing  here, 

157 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

is  the  beginning  and  promise  of  friendship,  of 
society  eternal. 

Belief  that  the  person  is  immortal  may  seem  to 
have  been  lost,  yet  it  is  in  the  background  of  the 
mind,  and  cannot  be  banished.  A  writer  on  ethics 
thus  expresses  it :  — 

And  then  never  can  the  individual  lose  the  inde- 
feasible claim  that  Immortality  has  symbolized  for 
mankind.  Men  and  women  may  refuse  to  regard  them- 
selves as  heirs  of  immortality,  but  they  can  neither 
abdicate  nor  refuse  to  concede  the  claims  which  only 
began  to  exist  with  that  high  anticipation.  The  words 
"for  ever,"  uttered  by  lips  on  which  they  were  a  hope 
or  a  fear,  do  not  lose  their  meaning  as  they  fall  on  ears 
which  receive  them  as  a  mere  fiction.  Those  who  deny 
must  explain  them,  and  whatever  the  explanation,  it 
must  involve  a  consciousness  in  man  —  were  he  cut 
off  from  all  political  grouping,  were  he  alone  in  Juan 
Fernandez,  never  expecting  to  look  on  the  face  of  a 
fellow  man  again  —  of  something  that  seems  eternal. 
The  eternal  can  never  be  subordinated  to  the  perish- 
able —  even  though  eternity  be  but  a  hope,  and  the 
transient  far  outlast  the  span  of  man's  sojourn  on 
earth.  The  questions  that  concern  the  being  in  whom 
an  infinite  hope  has  arisen  can  never  again  be  subor- 
dinated to  those  which  concern  the  framework  of  his 
life  in  this  world,  however  inferior  be  the  span  of  his 
own  life  here,  and  however  faint  and  dim  the  hope  of 
any  other.  ^ 

1  Julia  Wedgwood,  The  Moral  Ideal,  p.  391. 
158 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

Self -consciousness,  the  consciousness  of  self,  the 
I,  the  person,  is  the  reason  of  immortality.  A 
person,  I  have  said,  cannot  think  of  himself  as 
ceasing  to  exist.  An  old  person  is  not  always,  or 
often,  thinking  of  death.  A  man  seventy  years 
old  knows  that  in  thirty  years,  very  probably  in 
ten  years,  he  will  be  dead,  but  death  is  as  remote, 
as  unreal  to  him  as  to  a  youth.  He  has  no  less  an 
interest  in  life  than  the  youngest,  is  as  eager  doing 
things.  Even  if  one  is  stricken  with  a  fatal  dis- 
ease, I  suppose  it  is  not  real  to  him  that  his  exist- 
ence is  to  end.  It  may  seem  to  us  that  others  cease 
to  exist,  but  no  one  can  make  himself  realize  that 
he  will  not  be.  This  going  right  on,  no  matter 
how  old  one  is,  with  undiminished  absorption 
in  this  life,  is  possible  and  actual  because  we 
know  ourselves  the  undying.  We  do  not  think 
much  about  it,  but  we  proceed  upon  it,  this  con- 
viction, this  subconsciousness.  If  a  person  had 
really  reasoned  himself  into  the  opinion  that  death 
ends  all,  his  maxim  must  be:  "Let  us  eat  and 
drink  for  to-morrow  we  die;  let  us  have  pleasur- 
able sensations,  physical  enjoyment;  let  us  make 
no  firm  friends,  for  we  shall  lose  them;  let  us  lead 
a  selfish  life." 

It  follows  that  immortality  is  continuity  of  life, 
159 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

not  merely  continuity  of  existence.  It  is  not  a 
time-measure,  —  a  present  life,  a  future  life,  —  or 
time  and  eternity;  but  is  an  absolute  value,  an 
eternal  good  which  is  not  of  time-measure  or 
space-measure,  but  is  imperishable.  Eternal  life 
is  now.  Jesus  makes  scarcely  any  distinction  be- 
tween now  and  hereafter,  nor  do  the  writers  of 
the  New  Testament.  In  his  conversation  with  a 
woman  whose  brother  had  died  four  days  before, 
he  said:  "Thy  brother  shall  rise  again."  Yes,  "I 
know,"  she  said,  *'  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again 
in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day  "  —  a  remote 
event,  afar  off;  little  comfort  in  that;  meantime, 
my  brother  is  gone.  Jesus  said  unto  her:  "I  am 
the  resurrection  and  the  life."  I,  the  person  you 
are  talking  with,  I  am  the  life  and  so  the  resurrec- 
tion: then,  to  explain:  "He  that  believeth  on  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live  " ;  and  again, 
so  that  she  might  understand:  "Whosoever  liv- 
eth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die."  There  is 
no  death  of  the  soul.  The  person,  your  brother, 
exists,  the  very  same  character.  He  uses  the  pres- 
ent tense  of  that  which  has  the  quality  of  eternal, 
emphatically:  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he 
that  heareth  my  voice  and  believeth  on  Him  that 
sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come 

160 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
life."  The  real  death  is  sin,  the  person  going 
wrong,  the  degeneration  and  dissolution  of  char- 
acter. 

The  mystical  Apostle  wrote:  "Now  are  we  chil- 
dren of  God."  That  is  the  whole  of  it.  "Now  are 
we  children  of  God,  and  it  is  not  yet  made  mani- 
fest what  we  shall  be ;  we  know  that  if  it  were  mani- 
fested (or  when  it  is  manifested)  we  shall  be  like 
Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.  And  he  that 
hath  this  hope  in  Him,  purifieth  himself  even  as 
He  is  pure." 

The  scene  will  change,  not  the  eternal  truths 
of  God,  of  character,  of  friendship. 

On  a  far  shore  the  land  swam  from  my  sight. 
But  I  could  see  familiar  native  stars; 
My  home  was  shut  from  me  by  ocean  bars, 
Yet  home  hung  there  above  me  in  the  night. 
Unchanged  fell  down  on  me  Orion's  light. 
As  always  Venus  rose,  and  fiery  Mars; 
My  own  the  Pleiads  yet,  and  without  jars 
In  wonted  tones  sang  all  the  heavenly  light. 

So  when  in  death  from  underneath  my  feet 
Rolls  the  round  world,  I  then  shall  see  the  sky 
Of  God's  truths  burning  yet  familiarly; 
My  native  constellations  I  shall  greet; 
I  lose  the  outer,  not  the  inner  eye. 
The  landscape,  not  the  soul's  stars,  when  I  die. 
161 


,  A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Christianity,  by  its  doctrine  of  eternal  life, 
recognizes  the  absolute  worth  of  personality. 
This,  which  has  been  made  a  reproach  against 
Christianity,  is  really  its  strength  and  glory. 
Practicality  says  that  the  Gospel,  in  seeking  the 
future  salvation  of  the  individual,  neglects  his 
present  welfare  and  neglects  the  welfare  of  so- 
ciety. But  the  Gospel,  procuring  the  everlasting 
salvation  of  the  individual,  best  advances  his  wel- 
fare and  the  social  wellbeing,  for  it  thus  declares 
the  worth,  the  absolute  worth  of  the  individual. 

Absolute  worth  is  the  very  core  of  the  doctrine 
of  eternal  life.  Even  when  the  representations  of  a 
future  life  are  physical  rather  than  spiritual,  and 
when  salvation  is  thought  of  chiefly  as  rescue 
from  remote  dangers,  yet  the  belief  that  man  is 
immortal  is  made  distinct,  and  this  is  belief  in  his 
imperishable  worth.  To  take  time  as  the  measure 
of  salvation,  so  that  duration  is  the  principal 
thing,  is,  to  be  sure,  to  estimate  salvation  improp- 
erly; but  even  so  there  is  recognition  of  the  abso- 
lute, undying  worth  of  the  soul.  To  picture  heaven 
as  consisting  of  desirable  outward  conditions  is, 
undoubtedly,  to  take  a  low  view  of  man's  destiny; 
but  it  is  not  forgotten  that,  in  some  sense,  worth 
of  character  is  the  indispensable  condition  of  gain- 

162 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

ing  heaven.  Besides,  whatever  may  have  been 
true  in  the  past,  salvation  is  now  almost  invari- 
ably represented  as  a  spiritual  character  which 
outlasts  death,  rather  than  as  a  state  of  material 
delights.  A  Christian  does  not  look  forward  to  a 
Mohammedan  heaven.  Dante's  representations 
of  the  life  beyond  are  permanent  in  literature  be- 
cause they  match  outward  conditions  with  inner 
character. 

Christianity  raises  the  estimate  of  man's  needs 
far  above  his  outward  circumstances  and  his  mere 
happiness.  It  makes  man  realize  that  he  is  not 
the  creature  of  a  day  but  has  a  life  which  is  im- 
mortal. It  tells  man  that  he  has  a  soul.  Although 
that  word  "soul"  is  often  used  vaguely,  it  is  well 
that  it  has  not  been  relinquished,  for  it  is  always 
understood,  even  by  the  illiterate,  to  mean  that 
man  has  spiritual  and  immortal  worth.  The  philos- 
opher Lotze  could  find  no  better  word  to  employ 
as  an  exact  designation  of  the  rational  and  spirit- 
ual faculties  of  man.  At  the  very  first,  when  the 
oppressed  slave  was  pointed  to  the  future  freedom 
of  heaven,  there  was  rhore  than  the  removal  of 
discontent.  The  worth  of  the  slave  as  a  man  with 
a  soul  was  emphasized,  a  soul  for  which  Christ 
died.     Belief  in  the  immortal    worth  of  every 

163 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

human  being  reduced  infanticide,  abortion,  and 
suicide  in  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era. 
The  idea  that  those  who  died  unbaptized  were  ex- 
posed to  eternal  damnation  invested  infanticide 
with  pecuHar  horror.  Regard  for  the  sanctity  of 
human  Hfe  is  due  in  large  part  to  the  Christian 
belief  in  immortality.  Mr.  Lecky  says:  — 

This  minute  and  scrupulous  care  for  human  life  and 
human  virtue  in  the  humblest  forms,  in  the  slave,  the 
gladiator,  the  savage,  or  the  infant,  was  indeed  wholly 
foreign  to  the  genius  of  Paganism.  It  was  produced  by 
the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  inestimable  value  of  each 
immortal  soul.  It  is  the  distinguishing  and  tran- 
scendent character  of  every  society  into  which  the 
spirit  of  Christianity  has  passed.^ 

In  the  last  century  this  earthly  life  was  regarded 
as  a  probation  on  which  hung  the  issues  of  life  and 
death.  Men  will  be  judged  at  the  last  great  day 
according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  Those 
who  had  believed  on  Christ,  who  had  been  regen- 
erated, would  go  away  into  life  eternal;  those  who 
had  rejected  Christ,  into  everlasting  punishment. 
This  life  on  earth  is  the  time  when  men  can  be 
saved.  Now  is  the  accepted  time,  now  is  the  day 
of  salvation.    There  might  be  death-bed  repent- 

^  W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  History  of  European  Morals,  vol.  ii,  p.  34. 
164 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

ance,  though  it  is  better  to  repent  when  one  is  in 
strength  and  health;  but  death  ends  probation. 
The  thought  that  this  life  is  decisive  of  eternal 
destiny  was  not  merely  a  conjecture;  it  was  an 
influential  motive.  If  a  man  who  had  given  no 
evidence  of  conversion,  who  was  not  a  member 
of  the  church,  died,  there  was  a  feeling  of  uncer- 
tainty about  his  fate,  and  conscientious  ministers 
at  the  funeral,  however  reputable  the  man  may 
have  been,  were  apt  to  be  chary  of  eulogistic  ob- 
servation; did  not  speak  confidently  of  his  reward 
in  heaven.  I  believe  that  there  was  a  pretty  large 
charity,  that  something  exceptional  of  good  was 
found  in  every  case,  so  that,  although  there  had 
been  no  profession  of  religion,  the  person  was 
thought  to  be  more  or  less  Christian.  I  believe 
also  that  no  one,  however  bad,  was  consigned  to 
hell  by  those  who  knew  him,  for  some  good  could 
be  remembered,  and  "God  knows  the  heart.'* 
No  one  ever  believed  his  own  child  was  in  hell. 
Any  one  who  was  a  church  member,  or  who  re- 
garded himself  as  a  Christian,  went  immediately 
to  heaven;  there  was  no  doubt  about  it.  At  all 
events,  this  life  was  regarded  as  decisive  of  des- 
tiny, as  a  probation.  It  is  appointed  unto  men 
once  to  die,  and  after  that  the  judgment.   How 

165 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

real  and  distinct  a  future  life  was!  How  vivid 
heaven  and  hell!  How  inexpressibly  urgent  the 
call  to  repentance  and  faith! 

About  thirty  years  ago  a  curious  controversy 
arose,  as  to  the  decisiveness  of  this  life.  It  led  to 
the  trial  of  five  professors  in  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary at  Andover,  Massachusetts,  who,  it  was 
alleged,  taught  that  those  who  had  not  heard  of 
Christ  in  this  life,  the  heathen,  the  generations 
before  Christ,  might,  after  death,  have  knowledge 
of  Him  and  repent  and  be  saved.  A  foreign  mis- 
sionary society  refused  for  several  years  to  appoint 
as  missionaries  young  men  who  thought  it  pos- 
sible that  those  who  did  not  have  the  Gospel  in 
this  life  might,  after  death,  have  opportunity  to 
believe  on  Christ,  or  who  went  no  further  than 
saying  that  they  did  not  know  the  fate  of  the 
heathen. 

The  accused  professors  argued  from  the  univer- 
sality of  the  Gospel.  Christ  died  for  all  men,  and 
since  none  can  be  saved  except  they  believe  on 
Christ,  it  would  seem  that  all  men  will  have  the 
opportunity  of  knowing  Christ;  that  if  there  are 
any,  and  there  are  certainly  many,  who  do  not 
know  Him  in  this  life,  they  will  know  Him  in  the 
intermediate  state,  before  the  day  of  judgment. 

166 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

It  was  thought  that  Scripture  lends  itself  to  such 
a  hope,  for  an  apostle  says  that  Christ,  "having 
been  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  in 
the  spirit,  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in 
prison  which  aforetime  were  disobedient  in  the 
time  of  Noah";  and  again  says,  "For  unto  this 
end  was  the  gospel  preached  even  to  the  dead"; 
and  the  most  ancient  creed  of  the  Church  says, 
that  Christ  crucified,  dead  and  buried,  descended 
into  Hades,  the  abode  of  departed  spirits. 

The  accusers  said  that  Scripture  is  emphatic  on 
the  decisiveness  of  this  life,  since  it  affirms  that 
men  shall  be  judged  according  to  the  deeds  done 
in  the  body;  that  now  is  the  day  of  salvation;  and 
said  that  the  passages  in  Peter  are  obscure.  They 
also  declared  that  the  "nerve of  missions "  would 
be  cut,  if  it  were  supposed  that  the  heathen 
would  have  opportunity  of  salvation  after  death; 
that  is,  that  the  motive  of  missions  is  the  fact 
that  the  heathen  are  going  down  to  perdition. 
Other  charges  were  brought,  as  that  the  pro- 
fessors taught  that  there  are  imperfections  in 
the  Bible;  but  the  gravamen  of  the  accusation 
was  that  these  teachers  believed  and  taught 
that  there  may  be  a  second  probation,  and  that 
such  an  opinion  is  very  dangerous,  that  men 

167 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

will  postpone  repentance  to  a  more  convenient 
season. 

The  Board  of  Visitors  of  the  Seminary,  before 
whom  the  professors  were  tried,  removed  one  of 
them  from  office,  acquitting  four,  although  the 
evidence  was  the  same  for  all;  the  case  was  car- 
ried to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts;  the 
decision  of  the  Visitors  against  the  removed  pro- 
fessor was  declared  invalid,  on  the  ground  that 
the  other  Board  of  the  Seminary,  the  Trustees, 
were  not  made  a  party  in  the  trial.  It  is  not  yet 
twenty-five  years  since  the  verdict  was  given, 
yet  it  is  rather  difficult  now  to  realize  what  it  was 
all  about.  It  shows,  however,  how  real  the  unseen 
world  was,  how  intimately  related  the  realms  of 
light  and  darkness  were  to  this  world  in  the 
thought  of  men. 

We  do  not  now  profess  so  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  unseen  world,  nor  affirm  positively  that  this 
life  determines  the  life  to  come.  We  do  not  specu- 
late about  it;  we  refuse  to  believe  that  all  who  have 
not  consciously  accepted  Christ,  those  cut  off  in 
youth,  those  who  grew  up  in  vicious  surroundings, 
those  who  never  heard  of  Christ,  are  doomed  to 
eternal  woe.  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  ever- 
lasting to  everlasting.    And  now  a  very  orthodox 

168 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

writer  says,  in  a  book  published  by  the  American 
Tract  Society  which  is  most  evangeHcal,  and  no 
one  protests :  — 

We  repeat  with  all  sacred  emphasis  the  words,  "the 
gospel  was  preached  even  to  the  dead."  We  note  the 
instance  that  is  given,  the  spirits  in  prison,  which  afore- 
time were  disobedient  in  the  time  of  Noah,  that  is,  the 
spirits  of  those  who  perished  in  the  Flood.  We  must 
not  dogmatize,  we  need  not  vainly  guess;  but  we  may 
reverently  affirm  that  the  Son  of  man  is  capable  of 
reaching  and  influencing  the  souls  of  men  on  yon  side 
of  the  veil,  as  well  as  on  this;  and  that  in  a  degree  and 
by  means  infinitely  beyond  anything  that  science  or 
faith  can  either  dream  or  discover. 

The  same  writer  says:  — 

The  horrible  invention  of  a  purgatory,  from  which 
man's  enlightened  conscience  revolts,  and  which  the 
Word  of  God  makes  absolutely  incredible,  has  pro- 
duced a  violent  reaction  in  modem  minds,  whereby 
even  the  idea  of  Hades  —  the  Scriptural  idea  of  an 
intermediate  state,  where  departed  spirits  await  the 
resurrection  of  their  bodies  —  is  rudely  blotted  out, 
and  so  one  of  the  grandest  and  one  of  the  most  fruitful 
periods  of  man's  education  for  eternity  is  an  utter 
blank  in  the  minds  of  most  of  us.  But  we  refuse  to  be 
robbed  of  what  the  Holy  Ghost  saith;  whether  by  the 
abuses  of  Roman  excess  or  by  the  violence  of  Protes- 
tant reaction.  We  hold  to  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture —  whatever  may  be  the  peril  to  a  narrow  and 

169 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

sectarian  type  of  orthodoxy.  There  is  no  purgatory, 
but  there  is  an  intermediate  state.  And  the  only 
glimpse  we  get  into  that  world  unseen  (Hades),  reveals 
to  us  the  spirit  of  Jesus  proclaiming  his  gospel  unto  the 
dead.  Here  let  our  authoritative  teaching  regarding 
the  matter  begin  and  end,  flooding  all  the  world  of 
Hades  with  the  light  of  the  Saviour's  presence  and  the 
music  of  his  blessed  voice.  ^ 

I  think  all  will  agree  that  everlasting  punish- 
ment is  seldom,  if  ever,  mentioned  in  the  pulpit 
now;  that  the  word  "hell"  seldom  crosses  the  lips 
of  any  preacher.  While  it  is  believed  that  a  man 
may  be  morally  ruined,  the  conception  is  rather  of 
character  debased,  degenerated  beyond  hope  of 
recovery,  than  of  acute  physical  suffering.  The 
fire  that  is  not  quenched,  the  worm  that  dieth  not, 
are,  it  is  thought,  figures  of  corrosion  and  decay. 
The  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone  for 
ever  and  ever  is  symbolic  of  lost  souls  consumed 
with  remorse.  There  is  nothing  more  dreadful  than 
a  ruined  soul,  a  hardened  heart.  Character  is  fixed 
by  purposes,  and  it  may  be  that  after  a  time  it 
cannot  be  changed.  Judgment  is  upon  character; 
heaven  is  good  character,  Christ-like  character; 
hell  is  bad  character,  selfish,  grasping,  unsympa- 

^  James  Paton,  The  Glory  and  Joy  of  the  Resurrection,  pp.  199,  200. 

170 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

thetic  character.  Such  is  the  representation 
Jesus  himself  makes :  — 

Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand, 
Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world: 

For  I  was  an  hungered  and  ye  gave  me  meat:  I  was 
thirsty  and  ye  gave  me  drink:  I  was  a  stranger  and  ye 
took  me  in: 

Naked,  and  ye  clothed  me:  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited 
me :  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me.  .  .  . 

Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least 
of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me. 

Those  that  are  condemned  had  not  done  these 
things.  There  is  a  pictorial  representation  of  the 
judgment  in  the  last  book  of  the  Bible:  "And  I 
saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God : 
and  the  books  were  opened;  and  another  book  was 
opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life."  Judgment  of 
the  individual  is  here  represented  as  according 
to  the  record  of  the  book  of  life,  the  book  of  his 
life.  Of  course  there  is  no  record  in  a  book;  yet 
there  is  a  book  in  which  all  is  recorded,  and  that  is 
the  life  itself.  There  is  self-registration.  Every 
act  reacts  on  the  person,  makes  a  tracing  there. 
Jesus  said  that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall 
speak  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  meaning,  not  that  one  will  be  pun- 

171 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

ished  for  every  idle  word,  but  that  the  person  is 
not  the  same  as  he  would  be  if  he  had  not  thought 
and  spoken  it.  It  leaves  its  little  infinitesimal 
mark  on  the  speaker.  The  speech  is  the  man. 
How  well  he  expresses  himself,  we  say.  The  imag- 
inings of  the  heart,  the  ambitions  of  the  mind, 
achievements,  experiences,  automatically  react, 
and  are  registered  in  the  fiber,  the  tone,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  person. 

Even  the  face  tells  what  the  man  is:  coarseness 
shows  in  the  face,  and  sensuousness,  and  refine- 
ment, and  kindness.  St.  Chrysostom  said  of 
Bishop  Flavian,  "The  countenance  of  the  holy 
man  is  full  of  spiritual  power. "  Lord  Bacon  said : 
"God  did  inspire  the  countenance  of  man  with 
intellectual  light. "  The  Apostle  said  of  the  good 
men  and  women  he  had  brought  into  the  way  of 
life:  "Ye  are  our  epistles,  known  and  read  of  all 
men."  The  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  God  was  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  word 
"character"  means  that  which  is  inscribed,  or  en- 
graved, or  written.  Salvation,  translated,  is  char- 
acter, and  condemnation,  translated,  is  character. 
Judgment  is  upon  character,  which  can  be  read 
like  the  open  page  of  a  book. 

While  hell  is  not  mentioned  now,  except  as  a  spe- 
172 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

cies  of  profanity,  certainly  not  with  the  thought 
of  a  place  of  everlasting  physical  torment,  yet 
that  which  hell  signifies,  the  ruin  of  a  soul,  is  not 
denied,  is  in  the  background  of  the  significance  of 
redemption.  Hell  was  so  visualized  for  centuries 
that  its  peculiar,  drastic  quality  expresses,  as  no 
other  word  can  express,  certain  unhappy  condi- 
tions here,  as  when  one  says  his  home  is  a  hell  on 
earth,  or,  war  is  hell. 

Some  persons  have  thought  that  life  and  death, 
eternal  life  and  eternal  death,  are  to  be  regarded 
literally :  that  those  who  are  not  redeemed,  have 
not  the  Christ-like  character,  perish,  are  no  more, 
death  ending  all,  and  that  this  is  what  is  meant  by 
the  second  death.  This  belief  is  called  conditional 
immortality,  and  has  had  many  advocates.  Im- 
mortality can  be  won.  It  is  conditioned  on  char- 
acter, and  those  who  are  called  the  wicked  do  not 
have  immortality.  This  notion  or  doctrine  has 
never  been  regarded  as  heretical;  no  one  has  been 
prosecuted  or  persecuted  for  maintaining  it.  In 
every  age  of  the  Christian  era  it  has  been  held.  It 
distinctly  implies  the  possible  ruin  of  a  soul;  it 
is  not  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation;  and  it 
relieves  certain  difiBculties,  especially  the  difiiculty 
of  believing  that  human  beings  suffer  and  suffer 

173 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

and  suffer  for  ever  and  for  ever.  There  are  diffi- 
culties on  the  other  side,  for  since  the  basis  of  be- 
lief in  immortality  is  personality,  —  the  rational, 
self-conscious  person,  who,  as  such,  survives  phys- 
ical death,  —  it  may  be  doubted  whether  man, 
even  if  perverse,  can  cease  to  exist  with  the  death 
of  the  body.  If  the  constitution  of  man,  an  intel- 
lectual, spiritual  being,  makes  him  immortal, 
moral  perversity  does  not  change  his  constitution 
to  make  him  a  merely  physical  being.  I  suppose 
also,  as  with  belief  in  hell,  that  no  one  in  particu- 
lar is  consigned  to  non-existence  by  those  that 
knew  him,  for  there  is  some  good  in  every  one,  and 
"God  knows  the  heart."  It  is  argued  that  condi- 
tional immortality  furnishes  a  motive  of  great 
urgency,  the  winning  of  immortality.  This,  how- 
ever, is  an  opinion  that  affords  relief  and  still  main- 
tains the  necessity  of  renewal,  of  regeneration,  in 
order  to  have  eternal  life. 

A  substitute  for  personal  immortality  has  been 
suggested,  namely,  corporate  immortality,  which 
is  influence  that  continues  when  one  is  dead.  That, 
in  a  certain  way,  is  immortality,  for  it  goes  on  and 
on  from  generation  to  generation.  A  poem  by 
George  Eliot  was  very  familiar  twenty-five  years 
ago,  beginning  thus :  — 

174 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

Oh  may  I  join  the  choir  invisible 

Of  those  immortal  dead  who  live  again 

In  minds  made  better  by  their  presence,  — 

and  ending: — 

May  I  reach 
That  purest  heaven,  be  to  other  souls 
The  cup  of  strength  in  some  great  agony. 
Enkindle  generous  ardour,  feed  pure  love, 
Beget  the  smiles  that  have  no  cruelty  — 
By  the  sweet  presence  of  a  good  diffused. 
And  in  diffusion  ever  more  intense. 
So  shall  I  join  the  choir  invisible 
Whose  music  is  the  gladness  of  the  world. 

No  one  could  take  the  slightest  exception  to 
this,  for  every  one  desires  that  his  memory  may 
be  blessed;  but  we  cannot  be  satisfied  to  think 
that  is  all  the  immortality  there  is.  We  know  that 
the  dead  are  soon  forgotten,  that  a  few  great 
names  live,  while  the  multitudes  are  remembered 
scarcely  a  year.  The  human  race,  to  be  sure,  is 
immortal,  or  at  any  rate  long-lived.  It  is  repro- 
ductive, and  heredity  transmits  characteristics. 
One  generation  goeth  and  another  cometh;  the 
coming  generation  proceeding  from  the  old.  The 
race  is  in  the  individual.  He  had  father  and 
mother,  ancestors,  and  not  merely  by  instruction 
and  influence,  but  by  blood,  they  are  in  him.  So 
every  one  in  the  line  of  generation,  of  heredity  is 

175 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

continued,  but  this  is  not  personal  immortality. 
And  the  value  of  influence  on  those  who  are  yet 
to  be,  the  reason  for  desiring  that  sort  of  perpetu- 
ation, to  have  made  the  world  better  for  having 
lived  in  it,  is  ultimately  the  undying  worth,  the 
eternal  quality  of  the  good.  Thus  this  very  poem 
of  living  again  in  minds  made  better  by  our  pres- 
ence explains  that  it  is  to  live  — 

In  pulses  stirred  by  generosity, 

In  deeds  of  daring  rectitude,  in  scorn 

For  miserable  aims  that  end  with  self. 

In  thoughts  sublime  that  pierce  the  night  like  stars 

And  with  their  mild  persistence  urge  man's  search 

To  vaster  issues;  — 

and  again :  — 

And  all  our  rarer,  better,  truer  self. 

That  sobbed  religiously  in  yearning  song. 

That  watched  to  ease  the  burthen  of  the  world. 

Laboriously  tracing  what  must  be. 

And  what  may  yet  be  better  —  saw  within 

A  worthier  image  for  the  sanctuary. 

And  shaped  it  forth  before  the  multitude 

Divinely  human,  raising  worship  so 

To  higher  reverence  more  mixed  with  love  — 

That  better  self  shall  live  till  human  Time 

Shall  fold  its  eyelids,  and  the  human  sky 

Be  gathered  like  a  scroll  within  the  tomb 

Unread  for  ever. 

That  is,  one  cannot  get  away  from  the  divinely 
176 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

human,  religious  aspiration,  the  supreme  value  of 
personality,  the  thought  of  vaster  issues  than  mis- 
erable aims  that  end  with  self.  My  influence,  shap- 
ing the  life  of  others,  has  in  view  the  values  that 
constitute  man  immortal.  And  the  thought  of  im- 
mortality cannot  be  banished,  but  persists  in  one 
form  or  another,  even  if  it  be  in  so  attenuated  a 
form  as  influence  on  others.  Corporate  immor- 
tality, as  the  only  immortality,  is  not  much  de- 
bated now,  though  we  believe  in  it  and  delight 
in  it,  have  pride  in  the  family,  —  backwards  to 
ancestry,  forwards  to  descendants;  even  as  the 
Scripture  saith,  the  promise  is  to  children's  chil- 
dren, to  a  thousand  generations.  A  rather  bold 
writer,  thinking  of  past  generations  of  faithful, 
noble  men,  links  them  to  the  present,  which  sur- 
passes them  in  knowledge  of  the  truth,  saying  that 
not  only  do  they  help  us,  but  also  that  we  help 
them;  that  "apart  from  us  they  should  not  be 
made  perfect." 

The  Jews  at  the  time  of  Christ  believed  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  except  the  sect  of  Sad- 
ducees,  who  said  there  is  no  resurrection.  For 
several  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  it  was  the 
common  belief.  The  earlier  creeds  affirmed  it  in 
so  many  words:  "I  believe  in  the  resurrection  of 

177 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

the  body  and  the  life  everlasting."  The  Apostle 
Paul  disclaimed  it,  and  called  that  man  a  fool,  a 
foolish  one,  who  supposed  that  this  very  body  of 
flesh  and  blood  will  be  raised  up.  It  is  not  a  phys- 
ical body,  a  natural  body,  that  will  be  raised,  he 
says,  but  a  spiritual  body.  There  are  celestial 
bodies  and  bodies  terrestrial :  but  the  glory  of  the 
celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of  the  terrestrial  is 
another.  And  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the 
earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heav- 
enly. I  suppose  nobody  now  believes  in  the  lit- 
eral resurrection  of  the  body.  When  we  repeat  the 
phrase  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  we  think  of  that  for 
which  it  stands  and  which  immediately  follows, 
the  life  everlasting. 

We  do  not  think  or  talk  much  of  the  future 
life,  or  picture  it,  though  we  know  ourselves  the 
undying.  The  best  preparation  for  it  is  complete 
absorption  in  Christian  service,  through  faithful- 
ness in  occupations  and  friendships.  Occasions 
arise  when  death  is  thought  of,  as  in  bereavement 
or  at  Easter,  and  then  we  face  it  and  question  it 
to  find  it  a  friend  not  an  enemy,  and  so  return  to 
the  blessed  activities  of  home  and  affairs,  with 
the  old  dread  no  longer  in  our  hearts,  saying,  per- 
haps, with  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra:  — 

178 


ETERNAL  LIFE 

Grow  old  along  with  me! 

The  best  is  yet  to  be. 
The  last  of  life,  for  which  the  first  was  made: 

Our  times  are  in  His  hand 

Who  saith,  "A  whole  I  planned. 
Youth  shows  but  half;  trust  God:  see  all,  nor  be  afraid!" 

So,  take  and  use  Thy  work: 

Amend  what  flaws  may  lurk. 
What  strain  o'  the  stuff,  what  warpings  past  the  aim! 

My  times  be  in  Thy  hand 

Perfect  the  cup  as  planned ! 
Let  age  approve  of  youth,  and  death  complete  the  same! 

Another  Rabbi  said:  — 

Let  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us ;  and 
establish  thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us;  yea, 
the  work  of  our  hands,  establish  thou  it. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   KINGDOM   OF   GOD 

Protestant  theology,  down  to  recent  years,  em- 
phasized the  individual.  All  centered  on  personal 
salvation.  Justification  by  faith,  by  faith  alone, 
was  the  dominating  note  of  theology.  All  the  way 
on,  and  well  into  the  last  century,  this  opinion 
was  commonly  held.  There  were  some  qualifica- 
tions of  this  individualistic  view,  which  will  be 
noticed  later,  but  now,  in  order  to  mark  a  contrast, 
I  note  the  emphasis  laid  on  personal  salvation. 
Take  any  of  the  Protestant  creeds  which  were 
accepted  for  three  centuries,  and  observe  that 
article  after  article,  once  the  doctrine  of  the  Trin- 
ity is  stated,  has  to  do  with  the  individual,  with 
his  sin,  his  repentance,  his  faith,  his  reward,  his 
punishment,  and  that  there  is  scarcely  a  hint  of 
anything  else. 

A  contrast  almost  startling  is  observed  when  we 
turn  to  the  last  half  century.  It  is  within  fifty 
years  that  this  mighty  change,  or  extension  of 
belief,  has  come  about.  The  new  thought  is  of  the 

180 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  of  the  Christian  society. 
Could  there  be  a  vaster  change  than  that  from  the 
salvation  of  the  individual,  —  whether  to  heaven 
or  from  hell,  but  the  salvation  of  the  individual, — 
from  that  to  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth?  Yet 
such  a  change,  speaking  largely,  has  occurred. 
The  individual  is  saved,  it  is  true,  but  he  is  saved 
by  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  Son  of 
man  came  at  first  preaching  the  kingdom;  He  has 
come  again  preaching  the  kingdom.  The  Church 
is  now  dominated  by  this  idea.  The  children  of 
God  are  a  society  beautifying  the  earth  with  right- 
eousness and  love.  The  interest,  now,  of  all  this 
is,  not  so  much  that  the  idea  is  true,  as  that  it  is 
prevalent,  is  domesticated,  is  universally  accepted, 
is  everybody's  way  of  thinking.  We  can  see  our 
fathers,  or  at  any  rate  our  grandfathers,  following 
the  pilgrim's  progress,  fleeing  the  world,  making 
hairbreadth  escapes  from  ruin,  and  plodding,  most 
of  the  way  alone,  to  the  celestial  city.  But  now, 
while  there  may  be  tumultuous  experience  in  pass- 
ing from  the  kingdom  of  darkness  to  the  kingdom 
of  light,  yet  it  is  into  a  kingdom  on  earth,  a  re- 
newed society,  a  city  come  down  out  of  heaven 
from  God,  in  which  we  live  and  work  and' love  and 
worship.  The  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  on  earth 

181 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

is  the  latest,  the  newest,  the  oldest,  the  truest 
gospel. 

The  kingdom  of  God  signifies  the  brotherhood 
of  men,  a  society  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness. 
Jesus  employed  the  word  because  there  was  no 
other  form  of  government  then.  The  kingdoms  of 
this  world  were  the  only  type  of  national  cohesion. 
There  were  no  republics  of  this  world,  no  democ- 
racies of  this  world;  everywhere  kingdoms  of  this 
world, —  a  sovereign  and  subjects.  How  frequently 
Jesus  used  the  figure  of  a  kingdom  as  that  which 
He  came  to  establish,  illustrating,  explaining,  lay- 
ing down  the  laws  of  the  kindgom.  The  first 
beatitude  runs:  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit, 
for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'*  The  para- 
bles show  what  the  kingdom  is.  This  kingdom  of 
God,  this  kingdom  of  heaven,  of  which  you  are 
always  speaking,  what  is  it?  what  do  you  mean? 
Why,  it  is  like  many  seeds  a  man  sows  which 
spring  up  and  bear  fruit;  like  a  single  seed,  the 
least  there  is,  say  a  mustard  seed,  which  becomes 
a  great  tree;  like  yeast  a  woman  puts  in  meal  to 
leaven  bread;  like  treasure  hid  in  a  field,  to  get 
which  a  man  will  sell  all  he  has;  or  like  a  pearl  of 
great  price;  it  is  like  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  like 
bread,  like  the  most  valuable  possession;  it  is 

182 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

human  society  permeated  by  righteousness  and 
love.  The  first  petition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  is: 
"Thy  kingdom  come.'*  The  comprehensive  in- 
junction of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is:  "Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God."  In  answer  to  the 
question  of  Pilate,  "Art  Thou  a  king,  then?" 
Jesus  says:  "Yes,  of  the  kingdom  of  truth."  The 
inscription  Pilate  caused  to  be  placed  upon  the 
cross  shows  that  Jesus  had  constantly  been  pro- 
claiming a  kingdom  that  He  expected  to  establish. 
Jesus  took  the  idea  from  Jewish  thought,  to 
which  the  kingdom  was  a  cherished  expectation: 
"  They  shall  be  to  me  a  people  and  I  will  be  to  them 
a  God.'*  Their  union  lay,  not  in  themselves,  but 
in  God  whose  servants  and  subjects  they  were. 
The  kingdom  was  thought  of,  by  some  at  least,  as 
a  spiritual  kingdom.  Not  only  would  there  be 
bountiful  harvests  with  rich  increase  of  wine  and 
oil,  but  there  would  be  equity,  righteousness, 
peace,  and  justice  to  the  needy  and  him  that  hath 
no  helper.  The  prophets  were  not  without  the 
belief  that  other  nations  might  share  the  privi- 
leges of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  popular  con- 
ception, however,  was  of  a  national  kingdom. 
The  popular  conception,  also,  was  material  and 
political,  rather  than  spiritual. 

183 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

Jesus  took  up  this  familiar  idea  and  spiritu- 
alized it.  The  external  form  and  limit  passed 
away.  The  kingdom  was  to  be  universal,  not 
national;  spiritual,  not  political.  Yes,  He  said, 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  coming  indeed,  but  not 
with  pomp  and  observation.  The  haughty  Phar- 
isee who  fancied  he  would  have  a  high  place  in  the 
kingdom,  had  not  even  entered  it;  indeed,  he  did 
not  see  it.  Unless  ye  become  as  little  children,  ye 
do  not  so  much  as  see  God's  kingdom;  but  any  one 
who  became  as  a  little  child  was  of  and  in  the 
kingdom.  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me, 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'*  What  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven?  He  called  to  him  a  little 
child  that  stood  near  its  mother,  placed  him  in  the 
midst  of  them  and  said:  "That  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven'*;  trust,  obedience,  purity,  love.  The  fre- 
quent declaration,  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand,"  means  that  the  kingdom  so  long  expected 
has  come  at  last.  But  it  is  not  in  any  particular 
place  as  when  men  say,  Lo,  here,  and  Lo,  there,  — 
out  in  the  desert,  away  from  the  haunts  of  men; 
nor  in  the  city  where  men  do  congregate;  nor  even 
in  the  sacred  city  whither  the  tribes  go  up.  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  within  you  and  among  you. 
Jesus  took  a  familiar  conception  which  had  been 

184 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

empty  and  filled  it  with  moral  and  spiritual  reality. 
He  did  not  set  up  society  against  the  individual. 
There  was  no  need  of  that,  for  the  corporate  life 
was  already  of  more  importance  than  the  indi- 
vidual. He  taught  that  the  kingdom  is  a  society  of 
holy  individuals,  of  right  persons ;  that  men  and 
women  must  be  of  a  certain  character  in  order  to 
see  the  kingdom  at  all. 

In  extent,  the  kingdom  is  universal.  Its  lines 
are  not  drawn  anywhere  inside  humanity  so  that 
any  class  or  people  is  excluded.  Declarations  of 
universality  were  deeply  impressed  on  the  minds 
of  the  disciples,  and  by  them  repeated,  such  as: 
"And  they  shall  come  from  the  east  and  west  and 
from  the  north  and  south  and  shall  sit  down  in  the 
kingdom  of  God."  "The  publicans  and  harlots 
go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  you."  "Go 
ye  and  make  disciples  of  the  nations."  "The  field 
is  the  world."  His  frequent  designation  of  him- 
self as  the  Son  of  Man  rather  than  the  son  of 
Abraham  or  the  son  of  David,  implies  the  univer- 
sality of  the  kingdom,  the  kingdom  of  man,  of 
humanity. 

The  kingdom  of  God  is  the  restoration  of  the 
moral  order  in  society  and  not  merely  the  rescue 
of  the  individual,  his  deliverance  from  an  evil 

185 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

world.  It  is  the  man  in  social  institutions,  living 
and  toiling  for  their  betterment.  The  moral  order 
means  to-day,  as  it  has  always  meant,  the  person 
in  society,  and  that  is  in  part  the  modern  state, 
which  is  a  moral  institution,  the  institute  of  jus- 
tice, aiming  to  give  to  every  man  his  right,  that 
he  may  realize  his  true  worth  in  cooperation  with 
others.  Democracy  is  government,  of,  by,  and 
for  the  people,  in  which  each  has  his  own  rights 
through  respecting  the  rights  of  others,  for  we  are 
members  one  of  another.  So  politics  is  part  of 
religion,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  good  citizenship, 
the  Christian  has  a  civic  conscience.  The  moral 
order  is  international,  a  union  of  states,  each  main- 
taining the  rights  of  its  own  citizens,  according  to 
the  national  type,  each  recognizing  the  functions 
of  every  other  state  in  world-progress,  each  sus- 
taining amicable  relations  to  every  other.  The 
moral  order  includes  the  family  within  the  state, 
each  existing  for  and  by  means  of  the  other.  In 
the  family  the  strong  serve  the  weak;  there  is  re- 
spect, kindness,  sympathy,  self-sacrifice.  It  is  the 
institute  of  love.  The  moral  order  includes  equit- 
able economics:  to  every  man  his  due;  to  every 
man  that  honestly  works,  the  subsistence  by  means 
of  which  he  may  obtain  and  enjoy  the  higher 

186 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

values  of  life.  The  moral  order  includes  the  school ; 
that  each  generation  may  possess  the  intellectual 
and  moral  values  gained  by  its  predecessors.  The 
moral  order  is  no  longer  monastic.  The  modern 
world  and  the  modern  church  have  spurned  that 
idea,  knowing  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  in 
the  wilderness  but  in  the  community,  not  in  the 
cloister  but  in  the  city,  not  in  the  retreat  but  in 
the  market-place,  not  in  celibacy  but  in  the  family. 
The  kingdom  of  God  is  in  the  state,  the  home,  the 
church,  in  the  farm,  the  shop,  the  school. 

This,  I  say,  is  the  modern  idea  of  Christianity, 
and  quite  distinctly  the  recent,  or  the  recovered, 
idea.  The  kingdom  of  God  was  revealed  in  the 
past  when  Christ  and  the  apostles  spoke  immortal 
words  and  the  church  was  organized;  but  it  is  a 
church  that  has  been  out  in  the  world  ever  since, 
at  times  almost  losing  sight  of  the  kingdom  in  lay- 
ing stress  on  the  salvation  of  the  individual;  yet 
to  some  degree  elevating  society,  and  knowing 
God's  purpose  better  as  his  kingdom  keeps  com- 
ing in  the  exaltation  of  personality  and  the  puri- 
fying of  social  institutions.  We  seem  to  be  at  the 
beginnings  as  truly  as  the  fresh  young  church  was, 
and  we  are  peering  into  the  future  as  eagerly.  We 
do  not  stand  by  and  observe  social  movements, 

187 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

social  evolution,  as  one  observes  a  panorama, 
painted  and  moved  by  another  hand,  but  we  are 
actors  in  this  drama,  actors  not  puppets,  actors 
who  know  our  parts,  and  know  the  significance 
of  the  drama. 

We  are  led  one  step  further  in  our  comparison; 
knowledge  of  man  in  his  nature,  his  works,  and 
his  ways,  is  knowledge  of  man  in  society,  of  man 
as  a  social  being.  The  old  philosophy  and  even  the 
old  ethics  presented  the  individual,  but  now  phi- 
losophy and  ethics,  as  well  as  history  and  eco- 
nomics, are  social.  The  newest  science  is  social 
science,  sociology;  tribes,  peoples,  nations,  fam- 
ilies, the  class,  the  state,  the  school,  the  church, 
constitute  humanity.  The  absorbing  studies  of 
scholars  are  anthropology,  ethnology,  philosophy, 
ethics,  history,  literature,  and  religion,  studies  of 
man  in  society.  In  the  college  is  a  mighty  impulse 
toward  social  service.  The  idea  of  religion  is  the 
idea  of  service.  The  university  settlement  is  one 
expression  of  it;  training  for  intelligent  citizenship 
is  another  expression.  The  American  college  has 
always  stood  for  the  preparation  of  young  men 
for  great  service  in  the  world.  Some  educated 
men  are  selfish,  but  a  broad  education  is  always 
understood  to  be  not  for  personal  culture  merely, 

188 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

but   to   make    teachers,    leaders,   ministers,   in 
society. 

Now  it  is  not  literally  true  that  a  century  ago 
and  later  the  individual,  religiously  considered, 
was  in  isolation;  that  as  the  subject  of  redemption 
he  stood  alone;  that,  as  being  saved,  he  was  in  no 
relation  with  others;  that  religion  was  regarded  as 
an  affair  between  the  soul  and  God  alone.  There 
was  the  church,  the  company  of  believers,  who 
joined  in  a  common  worship.  And  there  was  an 
enormous  interest  that  other  individuals  should 
be  converted;  sons  and  daughters,  friends,  neigh- 
bors. In  revivals  the  whole  community  was  gath- 
ered together  in  one  place,  and  that  mysterious 
thrill  of  multitude  was  evoked  when  a  speaker 
swayed  great  audiences  with  an  enthusiasm  that 
was  contagious.  Puritans  and  Pilgrims  in  America, 
at  the  first,  wished  to  have  a  religious  common- 
wealth. In  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  church 
members  only  were  freemen,  that  is,  voters,  and 
in  the  Plymouth  Colony,  while  the  conditions  of 
the  franchise  were  not  so  prescribed,  yet  church 
members  were  most  readily  approved.  The  Com- 
missioners, eight  in  number,  of  the  Confederation 
entered  into  in  1643  by  Massachusetts,  Connec- 
ticut, New  Haven,  and  Plymouth,  were  appointed 

189 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

by  the  General  Court.  The  Commissioners  fixed 
the  boundaries  of  the  several  colonies,  settled  dis- 
putes with  the  Dutch  in  New  York  on  the  west, 
with  the  French  on  the  east,  and  with  the  native 
tribes.  They  had  various  political  functions,  were 
representatives  of  the  General  Court,  yet  they 
also  seemed  to  have  felt  responsible  for  the  moral 
tone  of  the  colonies,  the  orthodoxy  of  the  churches, 
the  support  of  the  minister.  In  1644  they  issued 
orders  for  the  maintenance  of  ministers,  payment 
from  unwilling  members  to  be  exacted  by  the  civil 
power.  A  century  later,  it  was  suggested  that  the 
Elders  should  publish  a  confession  of  doctrine, 
which  might  confirm  the  weak,  and  stop  the  mouths 
of  adversaries  abroad.  The  several  colonies  were 
exhorted  to  keep  a  watch  at  the  door  of  God's 
house  that  none  might  enter  but  such  as  had  an 
effectual  calling  and  were  at  union  with  Christ 
through  their  covenant;  and  that  only  such  mem- 
bers and  their  immediate  seed  should  receive  the 
privilege  of  baptism.  At  the  same  time  the  Com- 
missioners urged  that  steps  should  be  taken  against 
oppression,  either  in  commodities  or  wages, 
against  excess  and  disorder  in  apparel,  and  indul- 
gence in  drink. ^  In  fact,  in  Massachusetts,  as  late 

1  Winnifred  Cockshott,  The  Pilgrim  Fathers,  p,  307. 
190 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

as  1811,  citizens  were  taxed  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  church.  It  may  well  be  admitted  that  the 
Pilgrims  laid  the  foundation  of  democracy,  infus- 
ing religion  into  its  workings.  The  Rhode  Island 
Colony  was  a  democracy ;  the  franchise  not  limited 
to  church  members;  "It  was  further  ordered  that 
none  be  accounted  a  delinquent  for  doctrine." 
When  the  colonies  united  after  the  Revolution 
their  Consitution  provided  for  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State. 

Americans  have  always  been  keen  politicians. 
Read  a  political  history  of  the  United  States,  of 
parties,  of  measures,  of  issues,  and  see  how  tremen- 
dously absorbed  the  people  have  been.  A  foreigner 
visiting  here  said  when  he  was  presented  to  the 
President:  "Your  country  seems  to  be  on  the  eve 
of  a  crisis."  "  This  country,"  was  the  reply, "  is  al- 
ways on  the  eve  of  a  crisis."  Yet  it  was  not  dis- 
tinctly in  the  minds  of  most  people  that  religion 
has  anything  to  do  with  politics;  that  a  democracy 
of  right  and  justice  is  so  far  forth  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

Slavery  was  a  moral  issue.  It  was  a  blot  on 
Christian  civilization.  For  forty  years  or  more  it 
clouded  the  political  horizon.  Here,  indeed,  reli- 
gion was  a  factor.   Ministers  in  many  localities 

191 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

preached  against  it,  although  some  were  silent,  or, 
in  the  South,  and  even  in  the  North,  defended  it 
on  scriptural  grounds.  It  was  in  a  profoundly  re- 
ligious spirit  that  Lincoln  spoke  the  few  memor- 
able words  of  the  Gettysburg  Address. 

There  was  some  opposition  a  century  ago  to 
foreign  missions,  hardly  in  keeping  with  the  Chris- 
tian expectation  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 
Three  young  men,  students  in  Andover  Theological 
Seminary,  offered  in  1810  to  go  out  as  mission- 
aries to  India;  a  society  was  organized  and  they 
were  sent,  but  there  was  objection  on  the  part  of 
many  ministers.  There  was  diflSculty  in  obtaining 
a  charter  from  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts. 
In  the  debate  one  member  said  that  religion  is  a 
commodity  such  that  the  more  you  give  away  the 
more  you  have.  At  first  and  for  a  time,  the  mo- 
tive of  missions  was  to  save  the  heathen  from  per- 
dition. It  was  said  that  so  many  thousands  every 
year  were  going  down  to  everlasting  death.  The 
stress  of  mission  work  was  evangelical  preaching. 
But  now  education  is  about  as  important  as 
preaching.  Schools,  and  even  colleges,  are  estab- 
lished. Christianizing  is  civilizing.  Something 
had  been  done,  or  attempted,  in  this  country  in 
the  way  of  evangelizing,  first  with  the  Indians, 

192 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

and  then,  as  people  migrated  westward,  on  the 
frontiers. 

We  have  passed  from  a  rather  limited  concep- 
tion of  the  kingdom  to  a  broader  conception.  We 
see  it  in  the  great  variety  of  institutions:  the 
church,  the  home,  the  school,  the  state.  The  com- 
plete ideal  is  a  society  of  renewed  persons,  a  king- 
dom of  related  personalities,  each  of  whom  is  dis- 
tinct in  his  own  value.  In  a  general  comparison, 
we  may  say  that  stress  in  religion  was  laid  on  the 
individual,  and  his  salvation,  and  that  now  the 
ideal  of  the  kingdom  is  regained,  with  no  ignoring 
of  the  fact  that  a  renewed  humanity  is  renewed 
persons. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  church:  worship  and  preaching 

The  church  is  a  social  institution.  It  has  been 
aptly  called  the  institute  of  humanity.  It  is  not 
the  kingdom  of  God,  but  one  of  the  organs  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  kingdom  comes  in  all  puri- 
fication of  life  and  progress  of  society,  in  business, 
culture,  art,  civilization,  in  the  family,  and  in  the 
state.  The  church  is  the  organ  which  most  directly 
promotes  that  kingdom,  as  having  to  do  with 
the  worship  of  God  and  the  service  of  humanity. 
In  principle  the  church  is  universal.  It  is  not 
limited  by  nationality,  race,  or  class.  Any  partic- 
ular branch  of  the  church,  even  if  it  is  a  national 
church,  is  in  principle  cosmopolitan  in  its  mem- 
bership. Every  church  may,  and,  under  some  cir- 
cumstances, should,  receive  to  its  communion  a 
person  of  any  nationality.  Congress  may  forbid 
the  immigration  of  Chinese,  but  there  would  be 
universal  consternation  if,  by  act  of  Congress, 
churches  were  forbidden  to  receive  a  Chinaman 
to  membership.    The  early  church,  from  the  first 

194 


THE  CHURCH:  WORSHIP  AND  PREACHING 

moment,  was  universal.  It  included  Gentiles  and 
Jews,  women  and  men,  slaves  and  masters.  How- 
ever narrow  the  church  may  have  been  in  practice 
at  times,  it  has  always  in  theory  been  cosmopoli- 
tan. Without  the  actual  church  as  a  living  embod- 
iment of  the  universal  society,  the  ideal  of  that 
society  might  have  faded  from  men's  minds.  The 
church,  perpetuated  through  the  centuries  of  des- 
potism, of  feudalism,  of  national  wars,  of  politi- 
cal revolutions,  has  been  a  silent,  or  indignant, 
protest  against  the  antagonism  of  races  and  classes. 
In  the  darkest  days  of  its  corruption  it  has  been  a 
humane  institution,  and  has  been  self-reforming, 
by  virtue  of  its  own  principle  of  universal  brother- 
hood. Every  local  church  has  the  world  for  its 
field,  and,  even  if  it  is  not  actually  gospeling  in 
every  land,  has  vital  concern  in  the  universal  ex- 
tension of  Christianity,  praying  for  the  world  and 
giving  its  mite  for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel. 
Foreign  missions  are  a  standing  reminder  that 
Christianity  is  the  religion  of  humanity.  The 
Christian  Church  is  the  best  ally,  as  it  was  the 
precursor,  of  democracy.  The  early  church  was 
the  first  international  institute. 

Religion,  from  primitive  times  the  protector  of  the 
stranger,  the  market-place,  the  truce,  is  the  forerunner 

195 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

of  international  law;  because  it  alone  can  create  the 
international  spirit,  the  international  obligation;  it 
alone  can  permanently  sustain  and  ensure  that  spirit.^ 

The  church  of  to-day  recognizes  more  distinctly 
than  ever  before  that  it  has  a  world-mission,  and 
gives  service  and  the  means  of  service  gener- 
ously to  all  kinds  of  effort  for  human  betterment. 
At  times  the  church  has  sought  its  own  growth 
and  power,  its  own  magnificence  and  glory,  has 
been  an  end  to  itself,  but  now  the  church  knows 
itself  a  missionary. 

The  distinctive  functions  of  the  church  are 
worship  and  preaching.  In  respect  to  these  func- 
tions, a  comparison  of  former  times  with  the  pres- 
ent time  may  be  made. 

Worship  is  the  most  significant  expression  of 
religious  belief.  Prayer  and  praise  voice  the  com- 
mon faith.  In  worship,  theology,  that  is,  what 
men  and  women  believe,  is  concrete.  A  history  of 
worship  would  be  a  history  of  the  faiths  of  suc^ 
cessive  generations.  Changes  of  religious  belief 
find  expression  in  worship.  A  ritual  unchanged 
for  hundreds  of  years  may  seem  in  form  and  phrase- 
ology to  preserve  the  ancient  faith  intact,  yet  it 
is  interpreted  spiritually  to  express  the  living 

^  Hocking,  The  Meaning  of  God  in  Human  Experience,  p.  621. 
196 


THE  CHURCH:  WORSHIP  AND  PREACHING 

faith  of  the  time,  and  is  supplemented  by  modern 
hymns  of  prayer  and  adoration. 

The  worship  of  the  American  churches,  from 
the  time  of  the  Pilgrims  to  the  nineteenth  century, 
was  almost  entirely  embodied  in  prayer.  There 
was  little  singing,  as  we  shall  see.  The  minister 
prayed  and  the  people  listened.  Prayer  was  not 
prescribed  but  extemporaneous.  In  the  earlier 
times,  a  prayer  half  an  hour  long  was  not  uncom- 
mon. One  writer  says:  "These  long  prayers  were 
universal  and  most  highly  esteemed,  a  poor  gift 
in  prayer  being  a  most  deplored,  and  even  de- 
spised, clerical  shortcoming.  Had  not  the  Puritans 
left  the  Church  of  England  to  escape  *  stinted 
prayers'?  Everywhere  in  the  Puritan  church  pre- 
catory eloquence  as  evinced  in  long  prayers  was 
felt  to  be  the  greatest  glory  of  the  minister  and  the 
highest  tribute  to  God."  Nor  were  prayers  want- 
ing in  breadth  and  depth.  Since  prayers  were  not 
written,  there  are  no  records  of  them,  yet  we  know 
what  they  were:  adoration,  thanksgiving,  confes- 
sion, petition.  As  time  passed,  prayers  were 
shorter  but  no  less  devout.  The  attitude  was  rev- 
erence toward  Almighty  God,  the  people  standing. 
In  Connecticut,  the  Congregationalists  were 
known  as  the  "standing  order,"  in  distinction, 

197 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

perhaps,  from  the  Episcopalians,  who  knelt.  Later, 
many  remained  seated,  bowing  the  head  and  clos- 
ing the  eyes,  though  until  a  comparatively  recent 
time,  the  men  stood.  I  can  remember,  in  my  boy- 
hood, most  of  the  men  standing  during  the  long 
prayer,  myself  with  pride  by  the  side  of  my  father 
while  the  rest  of  the  family  remained  sitting.  The 
attitude,  I  say,  was  reverence  towards  Almighty 
God.  In  the  prayer,  the  attributes  of  God  were 
mentioned.  He  was  regarded  as  a  sovereign,  om- 
nipotent and  holy,  before  whom  the  angels  veil 
their  faces,  and  cry,  "Holy,  Holy,  Holy."  The 
sovereignty  of  God  redeeming  men  from  sin  by 
the  death  of  Christ  was  the  principal  note  of 
thanksgiving.  Confession  dwelt  upon  the  sinful- 
ness, the  worthlessness,  of  man.  The  more  pious 
a  man  was,  the  more  he  bewailed  his  sins.  When 
the  Reverend  Arthur  Dimmesdale,  of  Haw- 
thorne's "Scarlet  Letter,"  in  public  prayer  partic- 
ularized his  own  actual  transgression  in  concrete 
terms,  the  people  thought  it  symbolic  and  said, 
What  a  holy  man  he  is.  There  is,  indeed,  a  saying 
that  the  holiest  men  are  the  most  penitent,  have 
the  deepest  conviction  of  sin.  Sinners  —  and 
everybody  knew  who  the  sinners  were,  the  uncon- 
verted —  were  explicitly  and  pointedly  prayed 

198 


THE  CHURCH:  WORSHIP  AND  PREACHING 

for.  There  was  little  sympathy  or  tenderness  in 
prayer,  but  there  was  a  stern  and  noble  reverence. 

At  the  present  time,  the  prayers  offered  in 
public  worship  are  expressive  of  faith,  of  grati- 
tude, and  of  aspiration.  The  minister  voices  the 
thoughts  and  desires  of  the  silent,  reverent  con- 
gregation, either  in  his  own  words,  or  in  prayers 
which  have  been  repeated  for  centuries,  while 
everywhere  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  said  by  the  con- 
gregation. The  prayers  of  our  time  are  uplifting. 
We  find  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  the  holy,  lov- 
ing God,  our  Father,  with  whom  in  simple  trust 
we  commune.  Detached  from  fragmentary,  nar- 
row thoughts,  prayer  attaches  the  wholeness  of 
life  to  God.  The  true  perspective  is  gained,  the 
great  is  distinguished  from  the  little,  the  soul  is 
poised.  Prayer  ascribes  to  our  Heavenly  Father 
the  blessings,  the  real  values,  of  life,  and  is  thank- 
ful. Prayer  is  sympathetic  with  the  troubles,  the 
struggles,  the  sorrows  of  human  life,  which  it 
carries  to  God  in  faith  and  hope.  Prayer  gains  a 
world-wide  vision,  making  mention  of  home,  com- 
munity, nation,  the  church,  of  all  sorts  and  con- 
ditions of  men. 

Public  worship  is  unifying.  It  draws  people  to- 
gether, it  deepens  the  sense  of  fellowship,  of  sym- 

199 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

pathy,  of  the  oneness  of  the  human  race  as  chil- 
dren of  God.  "  Worship  is  imperfect  unless  when  I 
worship,  I  am  joining  the  race  in  worship.  Insti- 
tuted religion  has  accordingly  made  worship  pub- 
lic; at  its  best,  it  does  much  to  join  the  minds  of 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  in  worship,  of  all 
present  human  worshippers,  and  with  those  of  the 
past  and  of  the  future."  ^ 

Public  prayer  to-day  is  satisfying.  It  is  marked 
by  simplicity,  reverence,  sympathy,  and  compre- 
hensiveness. 

Music  has  always  been  a  significant  part  of  wor- 
ship. It  seems  to  be  indispensable.  People  of 
every  religion  express  their  faith  in  songs  and 
chants.  The  Hebrews,  at  all  religious  ceremonies, 
sang  the  songs  of  the  Lord,  and  exclaimed  in  their 
captivity.  How  shall  we  sing  the  Lord's  song 
in  a  strange  land.'*  Paul  exhorted  Christians  to 
speak  to  one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs,  "singing  and  making  melody  in 
your  hearts  unto  the  Lord."  In  the  American 
churches,  until  a  comparatively  recent  time,  the 
worship  of  song  was  very  meager.  There  were 
some  attempts  at  singing.  Psalms  versified  and 
psalms  only  were  sung.   Various  books  of  psalm- 

1  Hocking,  The  Meaning  of  God  in  Human  Experience,  p.  622. 
200 


THE  CHURCH:  WORSHIP  AND  PREACHING 

ody,  some  with,  some  without,  music  were  used: 
Ains  worth's  brought  overfrom  Holland;  the  "Bay 
Psalm  Book,"  printed  by  the  Colony  at  Massachu- 
setts Bay  and  used  for  a  century;  Sternhold  and 
Hopkins,  Tate  and  Brady,  all  of  them  versions  of 
the  psalms.  Some  churches  would  not  even  have 
the  singing  of  the  psalms,  thinking  it  a  sin  to  set 
the  inspired  words  to  music.  The  twistings  and 
turnings  resorted  to  in  putting  the  prose  version 
of  the  Bible  into  rhyme  must  have  made  even  the 
Puritans  smile.  There  were  not  more  than  a  dozen 
tunes,  which  were  sung  over  and  over,  only  three 
or  four  surviving,  as  "York,"  "Dundee,"  and 
"Old  Hundred."  The  psalm  was  lined  out  by  the 
deacon  or  minister,  since  many  had  no  books  and 
some  could  not  read;  a  line  read,  then  sung,  the 
next  line  read  and  sung,  and  so  on  to  the  end. 
Later,  there  were  choirs,  some  one  with  a  pitch- 
pipe  or  with  a  tuning-fork  setting  the  key,  all  the 
choir  sounding  the  note,  and  then  singing.  Then 
came  musical  instruments,  the  bass  viol,  the  clar- 
ionet, the  violin,  the  flute.  How  well  I  remember, 
as  the  congregation  faced  around  toward  the  choir 
in  the  gallery  opposite  the  pulpit,  watching  the 
curved  top  of  the  bass  viol  swaying  back  and 
forth  as  melody  was  drawn  out  of  it.  Last  of  all 

201 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

came  the  organ,  first  in  the  Episcopal  churches, 
then  in  the  non-liturgical  churches,  but  they  were 
not  installed  in  all  churches  till  well  on  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  There  was  opposition  to  every 
change;  opposition  to  singing  at  all;  to  singing 
right  along,  and  not  by  lining  out;  to  choirs,  to 
musical  instruments.  Of  course,  when  the  psalms 
alone  were  used,  worship  was  limited  to  the  reli- 
gious sentiment  of  those  writings. 

Hymns  are,  for  the  most  part,  modern;  the 
hymns  of  Isaac  Watts  had  a  great  vogue  and  some 
of  them  are  pretty  good  poetry,  extolling  the 
power,  the  wisdom,  the  providence  of  God.  The 
hymns  of  Wesley  are  hymns  of  divine  grace  and 
love,  of  the  relation  of  the  soul  to  Christ,  many 
of  them  having  a  place  in  all  hymn  books  now. 
We  have  now  hymns  of  faith,  of  trust,  of  adoration, 
of  aspiration,  of  the  Christian  life,  of  the  king- 
dom. Hymns  are  a  common  possession  of  all  the 
churches.  The  hymn  books  of  all  denominations 
contain  favorite  hymns  composed  by  Methodists, 
Presbyterians,  Congregationalists,  Episcopalians, 
Catholics.  Indeed,  the  hymns  that  all  know  and 
love  to  sing  are  the  most  powerful  bonds  of  Chris- 
tian unity.  Could  the  people  of  all  sects  indicate 
a  dozen  favorite  hymns,  I  am  sure  that  half  would 

202 


THE  CHURCH:  WORSHIP  AND  PREACHING 

be  the  same  on  all  the  lists.  The  melodies  which 
go  with  them  are  true  music.  Compared  with  the 
stiff  and  rather  dolorous  tunes  of  the  former  time 
the  harmonious  and  uplfting  strains  of  sacred 
music  to-day  mark  a  great  advance  in  worship 
so  that  now  we  worship  God  in  the  beauty  of 
holiness. 

In  all  the  non-liturgical  churches  preaching  has 
had  and  has  the  first  place.  Worship  has  been  en- 
riched, it  is  true.  The  congregation  participates 
in  the  reading  of  the  psalms,  repeating  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  the  Creed  and  there  is  much  more 
music;  singing  of  hymns,  and  anthems  and  re- 
sponses by  choirs.  More  time  is  given  to  worship 
now  than  fifty  years  ago,  but  still  the  sermon  is 
the  most  important  feature  of  public  services. 

In  the  early  time,  sermons  were  very  long;  the 
hour-glass  was  turned  and  sometimes  turned 
again.  Some  sermons  were  mere  expositions  of 
scripture,  proving  this  and  that  doctrine  from  the 
Bible,  citing  and  commenting  on  all  the  texts  that 
bore  upon  it.  Sydney  Smith  said  that  the  sermons 
of  English  preachers  were  Bible  and  water.  Some 
sermons  were  doctrinal,  metaphysical,  logical,  di- 
vided into  parts;  firstly,  secondly,  up  to  tenthly,  or 
more,  with  the  improvement,  a  distinct  category, 
203 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

at  the  end.  Some  ministers  went  through  a  system 
of  theology  in  a  series  of  sermons,  from  the  attri- 
butes of  God  to  the  final  judgment,  and  published 
them  as  theological  treatises.  The  same  course 
of  sermons  would  be  repeated  every  three  or  four 
years.  Certain  discourses,  remembered  by  the  text 
or  the  subject  or  the  illustrations,  were  favorites 
which  the  congregation  welcomed  as  old  friends. 
Particular  sermons  of  able  preachers  were  famous 
and  the  authors  were  requested  to  repeat  them,  as 
the  Peter  sermon  and  the  Judas  sermon  of  Pro- 
fessor Park  of  Andover,  the  sermon  of  Professor 
Tyler  of  Amherst,  "When  will  the  Sabbath  be 
gone  that  we  may  sell  our  corn?  '* 

There  is  an  impression  that  from  the  time  of 
the  Pilgrims  until  very  recently,  extemporaneous 
preaching  was  the  exception,  written  discourse  the 
rule,  but  this  may  be  questioned.  For  example, 
the  Reverend  John  Warham,  a  preacher  first  in 
Dorchester  and  then  in  Windsor,  Connecticut, 
from  1629  to  1670,  departed  from  custom  by  writ- 
ing his  sermons.  The  account  of  his  life  in  Ma- 
ther's "Magnalia"  says  he  was  the  first  New  Eng- 
land preacher  to  use  notes :  "  Who  though  he  were 
sometimes  faulted  for  it,  by  some  judicious  men 
who  had  never  heard  him,  yet  when  they  once 

204 


THE  CHURCH:  WORSHIP  AND  PREACHING 

came  to  hear  him  they  could  not  but  admire  the 
notable  energy  of  his  ministry."  So  extempora- 
neous preaching  must  have  been  the  universal 
custom. 

As  late  as  1723  objection  was  made  to  singing 
by  note,  that  is,  from  printed  musical  characters, 
because,  as  a  writer  in  the  "  New  England  Chron- 
icle" said;  "truly  I  have  a  great  jealousy  that 
if  we  begin  to  sing  by  rule,  the  next  thing  will  be 
to  'pray  by  rule  and  'preach  by  rule,  and  then  comes 
popery  " ;  a  rather  confused  argument,  since  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  there  was  never  such  a 
thing  as  a  written  sermon,  but  it  shows  that  at 
that  time  ministers  did  not  write  their  discourses. 
But  before  the  Revolution  most,  if  not  all,  preach- 
ers read  their  sermons.  Every  library  has  manu- 
script sermons  of  Edwards,  Hopkins,  Bellamy, 
and  others,  written  in  a  fine  hand  and  crowded 
lines,  perhaps  because  paper  was  expensive.  Until 
thirty  years  ago,  and  even  later,  sermons  were 
written  and  read,  with  few  exceptions.  It  was  ex- 
plained that  a  minister  preached  extemporane- 
ously because  his  eyes  troubled  him  so  that  he 
could  not  write.  Beecher  was  an  extemporaneous 
preacher.  Phillips  Brooks  wrote  for  some  years, 
then  spoke  without  notes.    Bushnell  wrote  his 

205 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

sermons  most  carefully.  Now  there  are  few  that 
write.  Methodist  preachers,  who  came  in  after 
the  Revolution,  have  never  or  rarely  written.  This 
may  seem  a  digression,  and  yet  is  significant  of 
the  nearer  approach  of  preachers  to  their  listeners. 
Sermons  now  are  more  practical  and  hortatory 
than  doctrinal:  on  duty,  on  the  life  of  Christ,  on 
the  Christian  life.  A  spiritual  preacher  has  the 
strongest  hold  on  attention.  He  preaches  the 
simple  gospel,  one  says  with  approval,  perhaps 
because  one  is  weary  of  listening  to  preaching  on 
the  topics  of  the  time,  on  social  and  economic  and 
political  issues.  The  preacher  of  to-day  is  serious, 
sympathetic,  human,  bringing  to  men  a  message 
of  the  deeper  things  of  life.  I  think  that  preaching 
has  never  been  so  vital,  so  inspiring,  so  real,  so 
Christian  as  it  is  now. 

The  church,  gathering  together  people  of  every 
nation,  kindred,  and  tongue  who  have  faith  in 
God  the  Father  and  love  of  their  fellow  men,  makes 
its  great  way  in  the  world,  praying  the  gospel, 
singing  the  gospel,  preaching  the  gospel.  It  points 
out  the  way  of  truth  and  righteousness;  it  keeps 
alive  the  ideal  of  character  after  the  pattern  of 
Christ;  it  makes  real  the  things  which  are  unseen 
and  eternal. 


CHAPTER  XI 

EELIGIOUS   PRACTICE 

Religion  is  beliefs  and  life.  The  beliefs  direct  the 
life.  As  we  now  come  to  a  consideration  of  religious 
practice,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  practical 
religion,  we  observe  that  this  generation  takes 
a  broader  view  than  that  taken  a  century  ago. 
Within  religious  practice  we  place  definite  obser- 
vances not  only,  but  also  occupation,  service,  and 
enjoyment.  The  religious  life  includes  work, 
helpfulness,  and  pleasure.  These  expressions  of 
Christian  life  will  now  be  noticed  with  a  direct 
or  implied  comparison  of  present  with  former 
conceptions. 

First,  then,  religious  observances.  We  have 
seen  that  in  earlier  days  strict  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  as  the  specific  time  set  aside  for  religion, 
was  general,  almost  universal.  The  entire  day  was 
kept  holy.  No  manner  of  work,  no  visiting,  no 
recreation,  was  allowed.  This  practice  continued 
until  the  Revolution,  in  New  England,  and  after. 
When  penalties  were  no  longer  imposed  for  work 

207 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

or  play  on  the  Sabbath,  tradition  and  the  senti- 
ment of  the  people  guarded  the  Lord's  Day  from 
encroachments  of  labor  and  pleasure.  As  a  matter 
of  course  all  went  to  church  regularly.  He  was  a 
marked  man  who  was  never  seen  in  the  house  of 
God.  It  was  assumed  that  one  absent  from  his 
accustomed  place  was  ill,  and  anxious  inquiries 
would  be  made. 

The  Civil  War,  from  1861  to  1865,  worked  a 
change  in  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  News- 
papers were  published  on  Sunday,  so  eager  was 
the  demand  for  news  from  the  front.  People  went 
to  the  post  office  for  letters  from  sons  and  hus- 
bands. There  was  traveling  on  Sunday,  companies 
and  regiments  going  to  the  seat  of  war,  friends 
going  to  care  for  the  sick  and  wounded,  not  hesi- 
tating to  travel  on  Sunday.  The  war  was  the  ab- 
sorbing topic  of  conversation.  In  the  churches, 
to  which  the  people  went  all  the  more  willingly, 
the  ministers  prayed  for  the  nation,  the  army,  the 
soldiers,  and  preached  on  the  issues  of  the  conflict. 
One  would  hardly  say  that  this  was  secularizing 
the  Sabbath,  but  there  certainly  was  a  consider- 
able change  in  the  observance  of  the  day  and  a 
letting  down  of  many  restrictions. 

At  the  present  time  the  American  Sabbath 
208 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

bears  only  a  partial  resemblance  to  the  Sabbath 
of  the  colonial  period  and  of  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  There  are  some  kinds  of  in- 
dustry that  are  active  on  Sunday;  certain  manu- 
factures that  cannot  be  suspended,  as  iron  and 
steel  processes;  journeys  by  rail  or  ship  that  can- 
not be  made  in  twenty-four  hours;  means  of  com- 
munication, the  telephone,  telegraph,  mails.  It 
would  be  rather  difficult  to  draw  a  line  now  be- 
tween necessary  and  needless  labor,  yet  while 
some  is  needless,  there  is  a  considerable  margin  in 
our  complex  civilization  which  is  necessary.  The 
apprehension,  however,  that  the  Sabbath  will  be 
completely  secularized,  as  to  work,  is  not  well 
grounded.  Labor  demands  one  day  in  seven  free; 
indeed,  a  week's  labor  must  not  be  more  than 
fifty-four  hours,  or  even  forty-eight.  And  while  it 
is  recognized  that  certain  kinds  of  labor  must  pro- 
ceed on  Sunday,  yet  in  the  majority  of  productive 
enterprises  it  is  not  necessary.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  nine  -  tenths  of  the  people  do  not  work  in 
their  regular  occupations  on  Sunday,  and  there  is 
no  likelihood  that  they  ever  will.  In  France,  it  is 
the  recent  law  that  every  one  shall  have  one  day 
in  seven  off,  not  necessarily  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  but  one  day.  At  a  hotel  in  Paris  I  asked, 

209 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

where  is  the  elevator  boy?  and  was  told  that  this  is 
his  day  off.  Shops  and  markets  are  closed,  for  the 
most  part,  on  Sunday.  It  was  rather  a  hardship 
at  first,  for  the  people  did  not  have  facilities  in 
their  apartments  for  keeping  food,  but  pretty 
strictly  the  law  is  enforced.  In  a  great  city  there  is 
a  good  deal  of  movement  on  Sunday;  street  cars 
and  motors  running;  hotels,  restaurants,  drug 
stores  open;  yet  the  business  portion  is  quiet,  the 
financial  district  is  well-nigh  deserted,  shops  are 
closed  and  railroads  run  fewer  trains  than  on  other 
days.  Multitudes  in  the  morning  on  the  sidewalks 
and  in  conveyances  are  going  to  church.  The 
smaller  cities  and  towns  are  even  more  quiet,  for 
all  business,  practically,  is  suspended. 

Church-going  is  not  universal;  not  as  large  a 
proportion  of  the  population  attend  church  as  in 
the  earlier  days  when  it  was  obligatory,  or  even 
when  it  ceased  to  be  obligatory,  and  there  are  few 
who  go  more  than  once  on  Sunday.  I  think,  how- 
ever, the  numbers  attending  church  are  usually 
under-estimated.  While  many  do  not  attend, 
many  more  do  attend.  There  are  twelve  million 
Catholics,  of  whom  nearly  as  large  a  proportion 
attend  church  as  of  our  Puritan  ancestors.  Be- 
sides the  Catholics,  there  are  twenty-six  million 
210 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

church  members  in  the  United  States,  and  this 
number  does  not  include  children  under  twelve 
years  of  age.  Not  all  church  members  go  to 
church  every  Sunday,  but  nearly  all  do.  In 
greater  New  York  there  are  sixteen  hundred 
churches,  some  small,  many  large.  Taking  all  the 
services,  I  believe  that  as  many  as  a  million 
persons,  perhaps  more,  attend  church  once  on 
Sunday. 

A  change  more  marked  than  that  in  respect  to 
work  is  the  change  in  respect  to  recreation  and 
social  life  on  the  Lord's  Day.  There  was  no  visit- 
ing in  the  olden  time,  except  visiting  the  sick,  on 
Sunday.  One  could  not  go  to  a  neighbor's  house, 
could  not  entertain  friends  on  that  day.  This  was 
very  hard  on  children  and  young  people.  I  think 
it  a  change  for  the  better  that  people  see  each 
other  on  Sunday,  families  coming  together,  the 
married  young  people  with  their  children  coming 
home,  those  who  are  not  set  in  families,  young 
men  in  cities,  invited  in.  Jesus  sat  down  at  meat 
on  the  Sabbath  Day  in  good  company  and  said, 
the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  not  man  for  the 
Sabbath.  To  be  sure,  lavish  entertainment  and 
parade  and  turning  the  day  into  mere  amusement, 
is  not  fitting,  but  the  recovery  of  part  of  the  day 
2H 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

to  social  life  is  a  gain.    The  prohibitions  of  the 
fourth  commandment  are  directed  wholly  to  work, 
not  at  all  to  good  fellowship,  to  human,  social  in- 
tercourse. There  are  many  who  devote  some  por- 
tion of  the  day  to  recreation  and  amusement. 
Golf  and  tennis  are  played,  though  the  number 
that  can  afford  these  games  is  relatively  small. 
When,  twenty  years  ago,  everybody  was  riding  a 
bicycle,  it  was  a  question  whether  it  was  wrong  to 
ride  on  Sunday;  asked  perhaps  by  those  who  did 
not  hesitate  to  harness  the  horse  and  go  off  for  a 
drive.  Later  there  were  facilities  near  the  churches 
for  stalling  bicycles.   The  public  entertainments 
most  in  vogue  on  Sunday  are  musical  concerts. 
Theaters  are  closed,  and  opera  houses,  except  for 
"sacred"  concerts  on  Sunday  evening.   Libraries 
are  open.  Steamboat  and  railroad  excursions  are 
common,  down  the  bay,  into  the  country.   It  is 
to  be  remembered  that  there  are  multitudes  who 
are  confined  to  business  the  entire  week  and  have 
only  one  day  for  recreation  and  social  enjoyment. 
Church-going  in  the  morning  or  evening,  as  cir- 
cumstances permit,  and  the  remainder  of  the  day 
for  visiting,  healthful  recreation,  reading,  enjoy- 
ment, with  as  complete  abstinence  from  ordinary 
work  as  is  practicable,  constitute  a  pretty  good 
212 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

observance  of  the  day,  a  right  use  of  it  for  spirit- 
ual, social,  and  physical  well-being. 

Religious  instruction,  for  the  most  part,  is  rele- 
gated to  the  Sunday  School,  where  it  is  Biblical, 
teaching,  the  catechism  being  no  longer  in  vogue. 

Members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  observe  Lent, 
some  of  them  attending  daily  services  during  the 
six  weeks.  Other  denominations  observe  the  last 
week  of  Lent  with  special  daily  services  in  the 
churches.  On  Easter  Day  the  churches  are 
thronged,  many  attending  only  on  that  day.  Dur- 
ing Lent  in  the  fashionable  world,  lavish  enter- 
tainments, parties,  balls,  are  not  given.  There  is 
little  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage  at  that 
season. 

Young  People's  Christian  Endeavor  Societies 
are  numerous.  At  the  meetings  each  one  present 
repeats  a  verse  of  Scripture  and  a  pledge  of  Chris- 
tian fellowship.  There  are  Brotherhoods,  King's 
Daughters,  Guilds,  which  are  orders  with  religious 
sanction  and  with  customary  worship.  So  much 
for  specific  religious  observances.  It  appears  that 
in  various  forms  and  ways  the  religious  impulse  is 
strong  and  worshipers  an  ever-growing  multitude. 

Turning  now  to  other  manifestations  of  the 
religious  life  we  observe  that,  more  distinctly  than 
213 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

in  the  former  time,  it  is  recognized  that  religion 
has  to  do  with  work.  One's  occupation  is  the  set- 
ting of  one's  life,  a  framework  within  which  one 
weaves  a  pattern.  Man  is  an  artificer,  a  producer, 
a  creator  with  muscle,  with  brain.  The  poet,  as 
the  word  signifies,  is  a  creator.  The  workman  pro- 
duces something.  Nature  under  his  hand  yields  a 
value  for  subsistence,  for  comfort,  for  enjoyment 
of  himself  and  others.  Men  till  the  soil,  weave 
fabrics,  build  houses,  ships,  railroads,  create 
homes,  states,  churches,  write  books,  enact  plays, 
preach  a  gospel.  Always  man  is  bringing  some- 
thing to  pass.  There  is  nothing  more  satisfying 
than  consciousness  of  power.  The  keenest  pleas- 
ure is  in  accomplishing  something,  in  achieving 
results.  The  lawyer  who  wins  his  case,  the  physi- 
cian who  cures  a  patient,  the  teacher  who  awakens 
a  dull  mind,  the  architect  who  creates  the  state 
house  or  library,  and  does  all  by  his  own  eflSciency, 
has  the  purest  satisfaction  of  life.  The  man  with- 
out a  pursuit  is  as  badly  off  as  the  man  without 
a  country.  We  have  scant  regard  for  those  who, 
because  they  have  money  enough,  do  not  work, 
and  make  prodigious  attempts  to  amuse  them- 
selves. Blessed  is  the  man  who  has  found  his 
work. 

214 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

The  good  old  word  "calling"  is  still  employed 
to  designate  the  particular  occupation  in  which 
one  is  engaged.  "Let  every  man  abide  in  the  call- 
ing, wherewith  he  is  called."  Everybody  under- 
stands when  he  is  asked,  "What  is  your  calling?" 
and  answers,  "law,  medicine,  teaching,  manufac- 
turing, buying  and  selling,  farming,  preaching, 
music."  One  is  called  by  his  abilities,  his  predilec- 
tions, his  necessities  it  may  be,  as  though  by  the 
voice  of  God.  It  is  the  duty  of  man,  of  every  man, 
to  produce  something  that  shall  be  for  the  better- 
ment of  men;  for  their  physical,  or  intellectual  or 
spiritual  or  social  betterment,  to  contribute  some- 
thing to  the  general  welfare.  Modern  civilization 
has  its  many  occupations  and  professions,  is  de- 
pendent upon  them.  There  is,  then,  no  separation 
of  religion  from  business,  no  difference  of  religious 
and  secular.  Conscientious,  faithful  work  is  obe- 
dience to  the  will  of  God.  How  much  the  Bible  has 
to  say  about  Christians  at  work.  The  home  first, 
husbands  and  wives,  fathers  and  children;  then 
the  farm,  the  vineyard,  the  loom,  masters  and 
servants;  "Servants  obey  in  all  things  those  that 
are  your  masters  according  to  the  flesh,  not  with 
eye  service,  as  men  pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of 
heart,  fearing  the  Lord;  whatsoever  ye  do,  work 

215 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

heartily,  or,  from  the  soul.  Masters,  render  unto 
your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal,  know- 
ing that  ye  also  have  a  Master  in  heaven." 
Quaint  George  Herbert  said,  "  Who  sweeps  a  room 
as  for  thy  law  makes  that  and  the  action  fine." 
So  we  speak  of  the  sacredness  of  work;  we  say  that 
a  conscientious  artist  does  his  work  religiously. 
"Establish  thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us, 
yea,  the  work  of  our  hands  establish  thou  it." 

A  song -offering  of  Tagore,  the  Indian  poet, 
suggests  the  sacredness  of  work:  — 

He  is  there  where  the  tiller  is  tilling  the  hard  ground 
and  where  the  pathmaker  is  breaking  stones.  He  is 
with  them  in  sun  and  in  shower,  and  his  garment  is 
covered  with  dust.  Put  oflE  thy  holy  mantle  and  even 
like  him  come  down  on  the  dusty  soil! 

Deliverance?  where  is  this  deliverance  to  be  found? 
Our  master  himself  has  joyfully  taken  upon  him  the 
bonds  of  creation;  he  is  bound  with  us  all  forever. 

Come  out  of  thy  meditations  and  leave  aside  thy 
flowers  and  incense!  What  harm  is  there  if  thy  clothes 
become  tattered  and  stained?  Meet  him  and  stand  by 
him  in  toil  and  in  sweat  of  thy  brow.^ 

Yet  again  the  religious  life  is  regarded  as  serv- 
ice of  helpfulness  to  our  fellow  men. 

As  observed  in  the  consideration  of  the  king- 

1  Gitanjali  {Song  Offerings),  by  Rabindranath  Tagore. 
216 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

dom  of  God,  the  working  principle  of  Christianity 
is  service,  and  this  is  clearly  seen  at  the  present 
time,  more  clearly  than  ever  before.  There  is  no 
more  profound  and  far-reaching  law  of  religious 
life  than  the  contrast  Jesus  set  forth  between  self- 
seeking  and  service,  in  his  definition  of  greatness : 
*'Ye  know  that  the  rulers  of  the  Gentiles  lord  it 
over  them;  not  so  shall  it  be  among  you,  but 
whosoever  would  become  great  among  you,  shall 
be  your  minister,  and  whosoever  would  be  first 
among  you  shall  be  your  servant,  even  as  the  Son 
of  man  came,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister."  The  second  great  commandment  is, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

This  is  an  age  characterized  by  the  spirit  of 
benevolence  as  no  other  age  has  been,  and  it  is  due 
to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Most  people  regard 
it  as  a  religious  duty  to  lend  a  helping  hand.  Out- 
ward manifestations  of  this  spirit  are  the  numer- 
ous charitable  and  benevolent  societies  to  reach 
every  kind  of  human  need,  for  the  support  of 
which  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  have  been 
given.  In  the  City  of  New  York  there  are  seven- 
teen hundred  such  organizations :  hospitals,  char- 
ity organizations,  homes  for  the  aged  poor,  reform- 
atories, university  settlement  houses,  homes  for 

217 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

young  women  of  limited  means,  even  for  those 
studying  music,  painting,  acting.  Christian  asso- 
ciation buildings,  city  missions.  Criticism  is  di- 
rected not  at  the  meagerness,  but  at  the  method 
of  service,  which  is  by  organization  too  much,  some 
say,  and  by  person  too  little.  Yet  there  are  thou- 
sands of  social  workers  who  give  all  their  time  to 
service.  It  is  indeed  the  fashion  for  well-to-do 
people  to  bear  some  part  as  directors  of  an  associ- 
ation, or  as  helpers.  There  is  scarcely  a  society 
woman  who  is  not  directly  or  indirectly  associated 
with  charitable  work.  The  motive  may  not  in 
every  case  be  benevolent,  yet  the  majority  give 
themselves  heartily  to  some  good  work.  College 
boys  meet  Poles  and  Italians  of  the  neighborhood 
to  teach  them  English.  Young  graduates  in  a  city 
organize  for  social  service,  each  one  giving  an  even- 
ing a  week  to  teaching,  or  directing  gymnastics,  or 
looking  after  some  unfortunate  person.  The  point 
is  that  the  gospel  of  service  is  preached  and  prac- 
ticed, that  while  many  who  are  helpful  do  not 
explicitly  regard  social  service  as  religious,  yet  it 
is  the  very  spirit  of  Christianity,  the  impulse  of 
brotherhood,  the  spirit  of  humaneness.  This  goes 
further  than  relief  of  the  needy.  It  would  remove 
evils  of  the  body  politic,  and  so  cooperates  with 

218 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

others  of  like  spirit  for  municipal  reform,  for  the 
righteousness  which  exalteth  a  nation.  It  works 
for  economic  reform,  economic  justice,  in  the  con- 
duct of  business  and  by  legislation.  Schools,  col- 
leges, libraries,  churches,  missions,  all  these  which 
abound,  are  forms  of  service. 

Once  more,  the  attitude  of  a  Christian  towards 
pleasure  is  not  what  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago 
and  later.  Then,  pleasure,  amusement,  enjoy- 
ment, were  frowned  on.  Particular  forms  of 
amusements  and  entertainment  were  prohibited; 
especially  the  theater,  dancing,  card  playing. 
Cards  meant  gambling  and  waste  of  time;  dancing 
was  thought  to  be  immodest;  the  theater  a  cor- 
ruptor  of  morals.  As  to  the  theater,  there  was 
little  opportunity  to  attend  for  some  time  after 
the  Revolution,  for  the  only  cities  that  had  thea- 
ters were  Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia. 
It  was  only  after  1830  that  plays  had  much 
of  a  footing  in  America.  Some  religious  people, 
no  doubt,  attended  occasionally,  with,  perhaps, 
qualms  of  conscience.  A  clergyman  was  never 
seen  at  the  theater,  nor  until  very  recent  times 
could  a  minister  be  there  without  calling  forth 
expressions  of  surprise.  Cards  were  regarded  as  an 
invention  of  the  devil;  fathers  would  not  have  a 

219 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

pack  of  cards  in  the  house;  card  playing  was  by 
stealth;  boys  found  playing  cards  would  be  cov- 
ered with  confusion.  Square  dances  by  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  were  allowed;  round 
dances  tabooed.  There  were  balls  and  parties  on 
public  occasions,  as  at  the  visit  of  a  President  or 
Governor.  There  was  a  fashionable  world  which 
countenanced  these  amusements,  yet  aware  of 
going  against  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  com- 
munity. In  general,  addiction  to  pleasure  was 
considered  as  inconsistent  with  a  religious  life. 
At  the  most,  in  certain  forms,  it  was  barely  toler- 
ated, and  was  regarded  as  something  quite  apart 
from  religion,  or  even  hostile  to  it. 

A  different  attitude  is  taken  now.  Amusement 
is  not  only  legitimate,  it  is  necessary.  Every  one 
needs  diversion,  needs  recreation,  is  better  off  for 
it  than  if  he  plods  and  plods  and  has  only  serious 
thoughts.  Man  has  the  play  impulse.  No  one 
would  think  of  checking  the  play  impulse  of  a 
child,  but  on  the  contrary  would  be  made  anxious 
by  the  absence  of  it.  Older  people  love  to  see 
children  at  their  sports.  Children  play  all  day, 
and  day  after  day.  The  most  trying  repression  of 
earlier  times  must  have  been  the  prohibition  of 
playing  on  Sunday,  a  long  time  for  a  child  to  go 

220 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

without  play.  Noah's  Ark,  which  could  be  opened 
on  Sunday,  was  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  ever 
vouchsafed  to  infant  humanity;  it  had  a  human 
and  biological  interest.  Bible  questions,  even 
conundrums,  were  allowed  on  Sunday.  A  child 
that  does  not  play  is  an  anomaly.  By  and  by  there 
will  be  a  little  study,  a  little  work;  as  years  pass 
there  will  be  more  work  and  less  play,  but  the 
play  impulse  is  never,  or  should  never  be  en- 
tirely lost.  If  feelings  are  kept  young,  the  enjoy- 
ment of  amusements  will  remain  to  extremest 
old  age.  The  pleasure  chosen  depends  on  tastes 
and  education.  Even  children  show  their  charac- 
teristics in  their  games.  Some  are  satisfied  with 
mere  movement,  running,  jumping,  rolling  over 
and  over;  others  are  singing  and  dancing  in  ex- 
pression of  the  rhythm  of  a  musical  temperament; 
some  love  acting,  as  if  they  were  other  persons; 
others  prefer  games  of  competition  in  which  they 
may  win  a  prize.  So  when  they  are  older,  devo- 
tion to  athletic  games  which  require  strength  and 
agility,  love  of  music  and  of  dancing,  fondness  of 
dramatic  representation,  delight  in  works  of  art 
are  but  the  development  of  the  tastes  of  child- 
hood. To  the  amusement  of  men  the  most  splen- 
did gifts  of  genius  have  been  devoted.   Shake- 

221 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

speare  ministers  to  the  love  of  dramatic  situations ; 
Beethoven  to  the  love  of  music.  Perhaps  the 
greatness  of  man  can  be  shown  in  no  way  more 
conclusively  than  by  the  play  of  his  mind.  It  has 
been  said  that  when  a  man  is  at  his  best  his  amuse- 
ments are  not  less  mighty  than  his  labors.  Man 
at  work  has  contrived  railroads,  telegraphs,  mas- 
sive and  delicate  machinery,  but,  for  the  mere  en- 
tertainment of  an  hour,  has  created  a  "Macbeth" 
and  a  "Midsummer  Night's  Dream,"  an  oratorio 
and  a  symphony,  requiring  the  highest  order  of 
genius  to  compose,  the  highest  order  of  talent  to 
perform.  Incapacity  for  enjoyment  is  a  defect.  A 
sour  man  is  as  unnatural  as  a  sad  child.  The  sense 
of  humor  is  a  saving  grace.  Zest  is  the  secret  of 
perpetual  youth.  Genius  has  been  characterized 
the  feelings  of  youth  carried  over  into  the  pursuits 
of  manhood. 

There  is  now  no  line  drawn  against  the  theater, 
only  a  line  between  good  plays  and  bad  plays.  A 
good  play  is  not  only  a  means  of  entertainment,  it 
is  a  moral  teacher.  It  epitomizes  life,  it  idealizes 
life.  It  must  portray  the  triumph  of  the  good  and 
depict  the  folly  and  the  failure  of  the  bad.  It  may 
seem  untrue  to  actual  life,  but  the  spectators 
demand  the  overthrow  of  lago,  of  Shylock  and 

222 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

Macbeth.  The  drama  is  the  faith  of  men  pro- 
jected before  their  eyes  in  situations  and  char- 
acters created  by  genius.  The  Old  Testament 
scriptures  are  dramatic  as  well  as  historical  writ- 
ings. Characters  are  selected;  the  significance 
of  events  is  pointed  out;  wickedness  is  defeated, 
righteousness  triumphs.  The  career  of  Abraham 
could  easUy  be  dramatized,  and  the  story  of  Jo- 
seph, and  the  experience  of  Job,  who  was  perhaps 
an  imaginary  character,  and  the  narrative  of 
Elijah,  Ahab  and  Jezebel.  These  personages  and 
events  have  in  fact  furnished  materials  for  great 
dramatic  oratorios  and  even  plays.  In  the  nar- 
row compass  of  a  few  selected  scenes,  the  meaning 
of  life  is  interpreted  in  an  epitome  of  years  and 
centuries. 

Discrimination  is  needed.  There  should  be 
diversion,  recreation,  amusement,  but  not  in  ex- 
cess. The  very  words  indicate  this;  it  is  diversion, 
diverts  us  from  more  serious  cares,  so  that  we  may 
return  to  them  with  new  vigor;  it  is  recreation, 
re-creation,  so  that  we  may  be  fresh  and  strong 
for  real  work.  And,  of  course,  capacity  for  amuse- 
ment is  limited,  the  edge  of  enjoyment  soon  dulls. 
The  devotee  of  pleasure  is  afl3icted  with  ennui ;  the 
society  man  is  habitually  bored.   It  is  said  that 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

indifference,  lack  of  interest,  is  assumed,  is  an 
affectation  of  fashionable  society.  I  suspect  it  is 
perfectly  natural,  for  one  soon  wearies  of  an  unin- 
terrupted life  of  pleasure.  A  man  can  be  judged 
by  what  he  enjoys  as  well  as  by  what  he  accom- 
plishes. Tell  me  what  pleases  a  man,  whether  the 
coarse,  vulgar,  sensual,  or  the  refined,  beautiful, 
intellectual,  and  I  can  tell  what  sort  of  a  man 
he  is. 

The  home  is  the  place  of  service  and  enjoy- 
ment. A  beautiful  and  attractive  home  is  a  peren- 
nial source  of  social  regeneration.  It  is  common  to 
ascribe  the  easy  or  doubtful  morals  of  some  per- 
sons to  reaction  from  the  strict  religious  train- 
ing of  their  childhood,  and  no  doubt  a  severity 
mingled  with  gentleness  was  much  at  fault,  but 
youths  have  broken  loose  from  high  standards 
of  conduct  more  on  account  of  the  barrenness  of 
home  life  on  the  side  of  beauty  and  enjoyment 
than  by  reason  of  undue  extremes  in  religious 
teaching  and  requirements.  Homes  without  books, 
without  pictures,  without  amusements,  without 
hospitality,  homes  distinguished  chiefly  for  econ- 
omy of  furnishings,  table,  and  dress  were  the  real 
sources  of  reaction.  A  good  deal  of  money  may  be 
judiciously  invested  in  a  roomy,  handsome  house, 

224 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICE 

ample  grounds,  tasteful  decorations,  profusion 
of  books  and  periodicals,  choice  pictures  and  the 
entertainment  of  friends.  Home  should  be  a 
place  where  a  boy  can  bring  his  friends.  Simplic- 
ity, dignity  and  beauty  in  the  home  are  ameli- 
orating influences.  Parents  should  be  companions 
of  their  children.  It  is  well  that  the  distance  or 
rather  the  barriers  between  young  and  old  are 
now  removed. 

The  home  is  the  ideal  society  in  miniature.  It 
is  under  the  law  of  reciprocal  service.  Each  has 
his  right  and  his  duty.  The  strong  serve  the 
weak;  the  baby,  not  the  strong  man,  is  on  the 
throne.  One  who,  when  full  grown,  demands  serv- 
ice, reverses  the  order  of  nature  and  of  love  and 
is  contemptuously  called  a  great  baby.  To  main- 
tain a  true  home,  to  be  charged  with  the  nurture 
and  education  of  children,  to  engage  as  husband, 
wife,  father,  mother,  child,  brother,  sister,  in 
services  of  mutual  helpfulness,  which  are  expres- 
sions of  mutual  love,  is  to  bear  a  large  part  in 
social  regeneration.  It  is,  one  may  almost  say,  a 
religion.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  the  gospel  of  the 
home. 

Life  cannot  be  all  enjoyment.  There  is  struggle 
and  disappointment,  hardship  and  sorrow  and 

225 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

toil  for  nearly  all  the  sons  of  men.  After  childhood 
there  are  few  sheltered  lives.  And  yet  a  cheerful 
faith,  a  good  conscience,  diligence,  a  helping  hand, 
strong  friendships,  these  there  may  be  in  spite  of, 
or  shall  we  say  by  reason  of,  struggle,  effort,  even 
hardship  and  disappointment. 

The  religious  man  is  the  all-round  man.  He 
worship  and  trusts;  he  toils  and  enjoys;  he  loves 
and  serves. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  HERITAGE   OF   THE    FAITH 

There  are  certain  vital  essential  beliefs  which  are 
unchanged,  are  permanent,  though  expressed  at 
sundry  times  in  divers  manners;  truths  that  can- 
not be  shaken.  A  striking  thought  is  that  of  an 
apostle  who  said  of  his  own  generation:  "Us  on 
whom  the  ends  of  the  ages  meet."  A  recent  book 
has  the  very  good  title,  "The  Living  Past."  The 
past  has  handed  down  to  the  present  great  religious 
values.  We  have  a  goodly  heritage.  Forms  of 
expression,  of  definition  have  often  been  inade- 
quate, sometimes  mistaken,  but  the  core  of  the 
gospel  has  not  been  lost.  I  shall  attempt  to  show 
in  the  next  chapter  that  in  our  own  time  there  has 
been  a  clarifying  and  an  enlargement  of  the  faith, 
but  shall  now  emphasize  the  continuity  of  the 
Christian  faith,  the  inheritance  once  delivered  to 
the  saints. 

One  way  of  showing  this  is  by  analyzing  the 
several  doctrines  that  are  formulated  in  the  creeds 
and  confessions  of  the  Christian  centuries.  Al- 
most every  doctrine  contains  a  seed  of  truth. 

227 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

The  belief  that  God  reveals  himself,  the  doc- 
trine of  a  revelation,  is  in  all  the  creeds.  God,  it 
has  been  held,  reveals  himself  in  two  ways:  in 
nature  and  in  Christ.  God's  works  and  ways  in 
his  universe  are  a  revelation.  The  Bible  contains 
sublime  representations  of  the  revelation  of  God 
in  nature.  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork.  The 
sea  is  his  and  He  made  it.  The  strength  of  the  hills 
is  his  also.  He  calleth  the  stars  by  name  and  lead- 
eth  them  out.  One  writer  makes  the  fine  sugges- 
tion that  nature  is  to  God  what  speech  is  to 
thought.  "There  is  no  speech  nor  language;  their 
voice  cannot  be  heard;  their  line  is  gone  out 
through  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end 
of  the  world."  The  silent  ordered  procession  of 
the  worlds,  the  music  of  the  spheres,  express  God's 
thought.  So  Kepler,  contemplating  the  stellar 
universe,  exclaimed,  "  O  God,  I  read  thy  thoughts 
after  thee!" 

What  divine  drink  wouldst  Thou  have,  my  God, 
from  this  overflowing  cup  of  my  life?  My  poet,  is  it 
Thy  delight  to  see  thy  creation  through  my  eyes  and 
to  stand  at  the  portals  of  my  ears  silently  to  listen  to 
Thine  own  eternal  harmony?  Thy  world  is  weaving 
words  in  my  mind  and  Thy  joy  is  adding  music  to 

228 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

them.    Thou  givest  thyself  to  me  in  love  and  thou 
feelest  thine  own  entire  sweetness  in  me.* 

Vastness  in  space  and  illimitableness  in  time 
only  enhance  the  grandeur  of  the  revelation.  The 
more  we  know  of  the  forces  and  potencies  of  the 
universe,  the  invisible  as  marvelous  as  the  visible, 
the  more  wonderful  and  immediate  the  presence 
and  power  of  God. 

The  other  revelation  is  Christ,  who  had  God- 
consciousness  in  the  highest  degree.  We  know 
the  character  of  God,  his  disposition,  we  might 
say.  It  was  held  that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation,  but 
it  is  because  the  books  record  the  life  and  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  the  revelation.  He 
revealed  God  to  men,  and  men  to  themselves. 

Man  himself  is  a  revelation  of  God.  Humanity 
is  part  of  nature,  the  best  part.  God  has  created 
a  peopled  universe.  God  rejoices  in  his  habitable 
world.  His  thought  is  found  in  human  beings  as 
well  as  in  the  material  universe;  He  is  revealed  in 
man  as  well  as  to  man.  In  his  own  self  man  sees 
the  purpose  of  God  and  sees  it  most  clearly  in  his 
ideal  self.  The  theory  that  man  was  a  special, 
immediate  creation  is  abandoned.  But  the  evo- 
lutionary theory,  as  an  eminent  scientist  says, 

*  Song  Offerings  of  Tagore. 
229 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

"presents  a  nobler  conception  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  or  as  I  should  say,  the  Infinite  Intelligence. 
The  conception  that  man  has  risen  from  a  low  and 
humble  form  of  life,  that  he  has  slowly  overcome 
the  brute  by  force  of  mind  and  reason,  is  a  far 
nobler  conception  of  the  method  and  purpose  of 
infinite  intelligence,  than  the  dogmatic  idea  that 
man  was  created  a  little  lower  than  the  angels, 
but  not  quite  perfect  enough  to  keep  him  from 
degenerating  from  that  early  pristine  condition. 
.  .  .  The  whole  long  line  of  ascent  from  amoeba  to 
man  may  be  regarded  on  the  human  line  of  evolu- 
tion. Somewhere,  always  keeping  to  the  center  of 
that  line,  was  a  life  impulse  leading  straight  to 
man.  Freed  from  the  old  teleological  line  of  the- 
ological teaching,  here  was  the  definite  purpose. 
Man  was  always  the  heart  and  core  of  the  tree." 
Great  and  unique  men  have  appeared  from  time 
to  time  and  have  exerted  a  profound  influence  on 
their  fellow  men.  These  men  see  deep  into  the 
truth  of  things;  they  interpret  the  realities  in 
which  God  expresses  his  thought;  they  read  God's 
thoughts  after  Him  and  read  them  out  to  men. 
Hence  we  say  that  genius  is  inspired,  for  the 
mind  that  perceives  truth  in  things  must  be 
responsive  to  and  so  inspired  by  the  intelligence 

230 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

that  made  things  the  vehicles  of  thought.  The 
inspirations  of  genius  are  discoveries,  not  crea- 
tions, of  truth.  All  realities,  then,  are  revelations. 
The  universe,  humanity,  and  genius  which  is  the 
epitome  of  humanity,  are  embodiments  of  divine 
truth,  goodness,  and  beauty.  As  beauty  is  the 
splendor  of  truth,  so  law  and  reason  and  society 
and  genius  are  the  outshining  of  the  Infinite 
Intelligence.  The  supreme  revelation  is  Christ,  an 
inspired  man  and  more,  a  genius  and  more,  a  God- 
filled  man  who  brings  God  to  men  and  men  to 
God.  The  doctrine  of  revelation  is  a  precious 
heritage. 

The  doctrine  of  the  person  of  Christ  is  a  herit- 
age. The  creeds  define  exactly  and  minutely, give 
us  the  theologic  Christ,  the  second  person  of  the 
Trinity,  define  the  mode  of  existence,  the  Son  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Father,  the  Spirit  proceeding 
from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  the  three  equal  in 
power  and  glory,  yet  not  three  Gods,  but  one  God. 
What  it  all  signified  was  that  God  was  in  Christ, 
that  He  was  a  great  spiritual  magnitude,  revealing 
God,  creating  a  new  type  of  life  and  establishing  a 
kingdom  of  righteousness  and  brotherhood.  We 
have  this  heritage,  though  we  do  not  attempt  to 
penetrate  the  mystery  of  the  Divine  being,  nor  to 

231 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

adopt  precise  distinctions  of  the  relations  of  this 
marvelous  man  to  God.  —  We  have  recovered  the 
true  humanity  of  Jesus  and  know  Him  the  God- 
filled  man. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  at  any  time  the 
name  of  Christ  has  been  more  reverenced  than  in 
this  modern  time.  Somehow  the  world  appre- 
hends Him  as  the  great  friend  of  all  the  sons  of 
men,  the  severe  denouncer  of  social  wrong,  of  hy- 
pocrisy, of  selfishness,  the  seer  with  vision  of  God, 
his  Father  and  our  Father,  the  self-sacrificing, 
loving,  sympathizing  helper  of  men.  At  meetings 
of  workingmen,  it  is  said  that  the  church,  when 
mentioned,  has  been  hissed,  the  name  of  Jesus 
applauded.  The  Christ  idea  has  got  a  lodgment  in 
men's  minds.  It  is  the  idea  of  a  life  of  integrity, 
honor,  contempt  of  shams  and  pretenses,  and  in- 
finite pity,  a  mighty  appeal  to  the  best  in  men  and 
women.  The  Christ  idea  is  a  distinctive,  a  definite 
idea  of  the  true  life.  Everybody  knows  what  is 
meant  when  it  is  said  of  an  act,  that  is  Christ-like, 
that  is  Christian.  It  is  a  crowning  wonder  that  as 
the  ages  pass  his  presence  does  not  fade  and  dis- 
appear in  an  ever  remoter  past,  but  is  clearer, 
brighter,  nearer  to  each  succeeding  generation. 
Back  to  Christ  was  a  rallying  cry  a  few  years  ago, 

232 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

back  of  dogma,  back  of  form,  back  to  the  Christ. 
If  Christ  should  come  among  us  what  would  He 
say  and  do?  and  we  know  very  well  the  answer  to 
that  question.  We  recall  that  famous  conversa- 
tion between  Charles  Lamb  and  his  friends: 
What  person  would  you  best  like  to  see  coming 
into  this  room?  One  and  another  great  person- 
age of  history  was  named,  and  finally  Lamb  stam- 
mered out,  "  I  suppose  if  Shakespeare  were  to 
come  in  we  should  all  stand;  if  Jesus  were  to 
come  in  we  should  all  kneel."  Knowledge  of  true 
goodness  is  still  gained  from  Jesus. 

The  creeds  of  the  Reformation  and  of  the  Prot- 
estant churches  have  a  definite  doctrine  of  sin; 
of  original  sin,  of  total  depravity,  of  a  depraved 
nature,  exposing  one  to  the  wrath  of  God.  We 
have  modified  that  somewhat,  it  is  true,  yet  the 
fact  which  those  statements  expressed  we  cannot 
ignore.  The  fall  of  the  first  man  is  not  believed, 
for  primitive  man  was  not  at  all  the  Adam  of 
theology.  That  story,  at  the  most,  is  symbolic  of 
a  certain  perversity  of  human  nature,  a  personifi- 
cation of  transgression,  an  attempt  to  account  for 
the  evil  that  is  in  the  world.  The  problem  of  evil 
is  approached  in  every  literature  and  philosophy. 
There  are  two  philosophies  of  evil;  the  philosophy 
233 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

of  necessity  and  the  philosophy  of  liberty.  Both 
are  ancient  and  modern.  To  the  Greek  evil  resided 
in  matter.  Disorder  was  there;  accident,  disease, 
and  death  were  there.  The  gods  did  not  create 
matter;  they  found  it  as  it  was,  and  did  the  best 
they  could  with  it,  but  its  disorder  and  evil  remain 
in  some  degree.  Every  man  must  suffer  more  or 
less  from  the  dire  necessities  of  the  world  and  of 
the  flesh.  Evil  was  misfortune,  rather  than  fault. 
There  really  was  no  sin.  The  unavoidable  was 
excusable.  Evil  was  the  shadow  of  necessity,  of 
environment,  of  circumstance.  To  the  Jew  God 
created  the  world.  Evil,  therefore,  was  not  in  na- 
ture, for  God  created  all  and  there  is  no  evil  in 
Him.  Evil  is  from  man's  disobedience  of  the  law  of 
God.  Man  is  a  person  with  liberty  of  choice.  He 
chose  evil  rather  than  good.  Evil  is  the  shadow 
of  liberty.^  This  is  the  significance  of  the  Adam 
myth. 

Even  the  Persian,  who  believed  that  man  could 
choose  between  right  and  wrong,  thought  there 
was  a  kingdom  of  evil  ruled  over  by  Ahriman,  to 
whom  Ormuzd  was  opposed.  He  believed  that 
Ahriman  would  finally  be  overcome,  and  that 
man   could   cooperate  with  Ormuzd,  chiefly  by 

1  Julia  Wedgwood,  The  Moral  IdeaL 
234 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

industry  reclaiming  the  earth  to  fruitfulness.  A 
parallel  to  this  is  found  in  the  belief,  prevailing 
during  many  Christian  centuries,  in  the  devil, 
who  personified  enticement  to  evil. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  philosophy  which 
denies  freedom  to  man  and  regards  evil  as  a  nec- 
essary incident  in  a  necessitated  evolution,  and  the 
philosophy  which  regards  evil  as  a  perversion  of 
liberty,  are  reproduced  under  different  forms  in 
the  modern  philosophies  of  materialism  and  of 
personality.  A  reaction  has  set  in  against  the 
materialistic  philosophy.  Personality  is  reassert- 
ing itself.  Evil  is  seen  to  be  the  shadow  of  liberty, 
not  the  shadow  of  necessity.  With  this  revival 
goes  a  profounder  and  more  serious  thought  of 
sin,  but  with  it  also,  a  more  cheerful  hope  that 
evil  may  be  reduced  and  eventually  removed  by 
human  endeavor. 

It  comes  to  right  and  wrong.  There  are  right 
acts  and  wrong  acts.  One  may  go  wrong  upon  a 
large  scale,  in  fact  his  main  purpose  may  be  wrong, 
and  then  there  is  more  or  less  of  inner  conflict, 
although  in  the  end  conscience  may  be  deadened. 
One  approves  the  right  and  does  the  wrong.  Paul 
has  said  it  for  us :  "For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God 
after  the  inner  man;  but  I  see  a  different  law  in  my 

235 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

members,  warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind  and 
bringing  me  into  captivity  under  the  law  of  sin 
which  is  in  my  members." 

Goodness  is  supremacy  of  the  higher  over  the 
lower  in  the  proportionate  satisfaction  of  all 
powers;  badness  or  sin  is  the  reversal  of  this  order, 
is  the  satisfaction  of  the  lower  to  the  neglect  of 
and  in  defiance  of  the  higher.  This  is  the  popular 
idea  of  sin :  gratification  of  the  appetites  and  pas- 
sions of  sense,  the  sacrifice  of  truth  or  honor  or 
purity  in  order  to  enjoy  sensuous  pleasures  or 
gain  physical  good.  But  many  sins  are  not  physi- 
cal. Some  of  the  worst  sins,  such  as  revenge,  pride, 
falsehood,  selfish  ambitions,  spring  from  desires 
which  are  not  sensuous.  If  there  is  any  one 
motive  which  accounts  for  all  sins,  that  motive 
is  selfishness.  It  seeks  the  lower  satisfactions, 
which,  when  they  are  made  the  chief  ends,  are 
unworthy  of  a  man.  So  many  sins  consist  in  the 
use  of  others  to  gain  lower  gratifications  that 
selfishness  is  rightly  considered  the  very  essence 
of  nearly  all  known  sin.  But,  however  regarded, 
free  men  make  wrong  choices.  There  is  retrogres- 
sion from  the  ideal  as  well  as  progression  towards 
it.  A  man  sinneth  against  his  own  soul.  So  while 
we  cast  aside  notions  of  original  sin  imputed  to  us, 

236 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

of  total  depravity,  since  there  is  some  good  in 
everybody,  a  conscience  that  stirs,  we  cannot 
deny  that  we  go  wrong  and  do  wrong  by  our  own 
choice.  There  could  be  no  wrong  if  men  were  not 
free. 

The  redemption  of  man  from  sin  to  holiness  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  creeds  about  which  all  other 
doctrines  revolve.  Holiness  is  wholeness,  the  life 
centered  and  harmonious;  sin  is  the  fragmentary, 
broken  life,  out  of  tune.  Christ  restores  man  to 
himself.  Christ  reveals  God  seeking  men  to  bring 
them  back  to  himself  in  faith  and  love  by  the  way 
of  sacrifice.  This  hais  been  fully  considered  in  the 
chapter  on  Redemption.  While  we  do  not  theorize 
about  atonement,  about  justice  and  penalty, 
about  substitution  and  guilt,  about  imputation  of 
righteousness,  we  hold  to  the  reality  of  the  self- 
sacrifice  of  Christ,  as  the  divine  way  of  converting 
men  from  selfishness  to  love.  If  any  man  be  in 
Christ  Jesus,  has  his  spirit,  is  touched,  moved  and 
conquered  by  that  spirit,  he  is  a  new  creature;  old 
things  are  passed  away,  behold  all  things  are  be- 
come new.  Christ's  power  is  in  the  world  at  issue 
still  with  sin,  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of 
God  unto  salvation.  We  are  not  satisfied  with  the 
conception  of  Christ  as  merely  a  great  teacher, 

237 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

though  He  is  that;  as  an  example,  though  He  is 
that;  He  is  the  Redeemer,  loving  men,  even  if  He 
dies  for  it,  out  of  sin  into  goodness.  The  Cross  is 
the  symbol  of  Christianity. 

The  doctrine  of  eternal  life  is  a  heritage,  since 
Christianity  makes  it  distinct.  Jesus  lighted  up 
immortality.  We  do  not  believe  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body,  but  we  do  believe  in  the  life  ever- 
lasting. Death  is  among  us  daily,  the  mourners 
go  about  the  streets ;  death  approaches  us,  or  we 
approach  death  as  we  grow  old,  as  the  number 
of  remaining  years  dwindles.  But  Christ  brings 
us  into  union  with  God,  the  everlasting  God, 
our  Father,  and  no  man  can  pluck  us  out  of  the 
Father's  hand.  We  know  God  and  are  known  of 
Him ;  we  love  God  and  are  loved  of  Him ;  and  there- 
fore cannot  cease  to  be.  Spiritual  life  is  indestruct- 
ible: "He  that  believeth  on  me  hath  eternal  life 
and  is  passed  from  death  unto  life."  We  do  not 
locate  heaven,  but  we  know  it  is  a  kind  of  life, 
the  Christ  kind,  a  full  life.  We  are  content  to  echo 
the  words  of  the  mystic:  "We  know  that  if  he 
shall  be  manifested  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we 
shall  see  him  even  as  he  is."  Nor  do  we  picture  the 
condition  of  perverse  souls,  whether  they  literally 
perish,  or  diminish  to  extinction,  or  remain  eter- 

238 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

nally  perverse,  or  in  the  everlasting  mercy  are 
finally  brought  up  the  altar  steps  to  God. 

Predestination,  election,  reprobation,  we  are 
not  interested  in.  We  take  the  gospel  call  liter- 
ally, "Whosoever  will,  let  him  come." 

The  Kingdom  of  God,  a  renewed  society, 
thought  of  in  former  times  as  the  church,  in  an- 
cient times  more  spiritually  as  the  Holy  Catholic 
church,  which  is  the  ideal  brotherhood  of  man, 
is  a  heritage  enlarged  and  beautified. 

Thus  far  the  continuity  of  the  faith  down  the 
ages  has  been  indicated  by  distinguishing  in  the 
creeds  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity.  There 
is  a  larger  approach.  The  gospel  is  a  heritage  be- 
cause it  satisfies  the  fundamental  needs  of  human 
nature  which  are  the  same  in  every  age  and  clime. 
For  this  reason  it  is  a  world-wide  and  perpetual 
religion.  The  several  doctrines  are  so  many  vari- 
ous aspects  of  Christianity.  Now  one  aspect,  and 
now  another,  has  been  portrayed  or  over-empha- 
sized and  Christianity  may  seem  thereby  to  have 
been  narrowed  or  distorted.  Some  statements 
of  mediaeval  and  of  Protestant  confessions  have 
nothing  to  do  with  Christianity,  are  a  wrong 
psychology,  a  wrong  science,  a  wrong  philosophy: 
such  as  the  creation  of  the  world  in  six  days,  a 
239 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

covenant  God  made  with  the  first  man,  the  fall  of 
Adam,  total  depravity,  predestination,  election, 
the  absolute  inerrancy  of  a  book.  The  discredit- 
ing of  such  vagaries  has  brought  Christianity 
itself  into  disrepute.  Much  skepticism  and  infi- 
delity and  doubt  have  been  due  to  the  non-essen- 
tial and  erroneous  articles  of  the  creeds  and  to  the 
claims  made  for  the  Bible,  which  do  not,  at  all, 
touch  vital  Christianity.  Hence  the  prejudice 
against  dogmatic  theology.  Thirty  years  ago  a 
popular  speaker  drew  great  audiences  to  hear  him 
attack  Christianity.  His  stock  in  trade  was  the 
unscientific  account  of  creation  in  the  Bible,  the 
theologic  Adam,  the  immorality  of  the  patriarchs, 
the  wars  and  cruelties  of  the  Israelites,  the  story 
of  Jonah;  attacks  on  certain  articles  of  the  creeds 
and  on  the  theory  that  the  Bible  is  absolutely  free 
from  errors;  that  if  any  page  of  the  scriptures  is 
blemished,  Christianity  itself  goes  down. 

But  Christianity  is  none  of  these  things.  It  is 
two  great  realities :  the  divine  entering  human  life, 
God  manifesting  himself  in  the  life  of  man,  and 
man  recovered  to  himself.  The  first  meets  a  yearn- 
ing of  the  heart,  to  know  God,  the  Eternal  reason 
and  love,  and  to  rest  in  Him.  "  Thou  hast  made  us 
for  thyself,  and  unquiet  is  our  heart  until  it  rests 

240 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

in  Thee."  This  poises  man  on  the  Almighty. 
Man's  life  is  not  a  fleeting,  fragmentary,  aimless 
existence,  but  through  trust  in  God  becomes  a 
purposeful  development.  Man  has  an  individual 
place  in  the  order  of  the  world,  for  it  is  God's 
world  and  man  is  God's  child.  The  peace  of  God 
in  our  hearts  is  stability  of  soul,  is  poise. 

And  this  is  the  other  thing.  Christianity  gives 
man  a  character,  makes  a  person  of  him,  makes  a 
man  of  him,  so  that  he  is  not  the  sport  of  circum- 
stance, but  the  master  of  circumstance.  It  sets 
man  above  the  world,  but  does  not  withdraw  him 
from  it.  In  the  world  of  nature,  he  does  not  drift 
like  seaweed  on  the  ocean,  but  spreads  sail  and 
steers.  Christianity,  we  might  say,  calls  man  from 
drifting  to  steering.  In  the  human  world  Chris- 
tianity calls  him  to  brotherhood,  to  duty,  to  jus- 
tice, to  righteousness,  to  love.  It  calls  him  from 
the  low  ambitions  of  self -gratification  to  the  high 
ambitions  of  service,  to  helpfulness,  to  seek  for 
others  the  goods  he  seeks  for  himself,  the  worth  of 
personality,  the  value  of  character;  in  scriptural 
phrase,  to  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  right- 
eousness. 

The  problem  of  the  ages  is  human  life.  There  is 
contradiction  and  discord.  There  are  pleasures, 
241 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

there  are  pains;  there  are  achievements,  there  are 
disappointments;  there  is  good  fortune,  there  is 
calamity;  there  are  glimpses  of  the  good,  there  is 
experience  of  the  bad;  there  is  bewilderment  and 
inner  strife.  The  problem  has  been  studied  and 
this  or  that  philosophy  of  life  attempted.  Neces- 
sity was  the  solution  of  the  Stoics.  Circumstances 
are  the  rulers  of  man's  destiny;  fate  they  called  it; 
so  let  us  endure,  let  us  be  indiJBFerent.  Happiness 
is  the  solution  of  the  Epicureans  and  their  descend- 
ants; let  us  eat  and  drink  and  enjoy;  that  phi- 
losophy ignoring  pains  and  sorrows.  While  there 
is  much  that  is  very  noble  in  the  writings  of  the 
Stoics,  and  much  that  is  very  human  in  the  views 
of  the  Epicureans,  neither  solves  the  problem  of 
human  life.  These  names.  Stoic  and  Epicurean, 
have  come  down  to  us,  standing  for  theories  of 
life;  Stoical  endurance.  Epicurean  pleasure.  This 
man,  we  say,  is  a  Stoic,  that  man  an  Epicurean. 
To  the  Hindu  the  world  is  illusion,  is  transient 
and  disappointing.  To  extinguish  self,  to  extin- 
guish desire,  to  be  passive  is  the  solution  of  the 
Hindu.  Who  desires  nothing  will  suffer  nothing. 
"When  thirst  conquers,  thirst  the  contemptible, 
that  pours  its  poison  through  the  world,  for  him 
will  suffering  grow,  as  the  grass  grows.  WTio  con- 
242 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

quers  thirst,  the  contemptible,  that  is  hard  to 
escape  in  this  world,  from  him  will  suffering  flow 
away  like  the  water  drop  from  the  lotus  flower." 

Christianity  is  positive.  It  does  not  think  the 
world  is  bad,  except  as  man  by  his  own  acts  has 
made  it  bad.  What  man  has  made,  man  can  un- 
make. Let  him  turn  from  the  bad,  the  unworthy, 
the  selfish,  and  stake  his  life  on  higher  aims.  Let 
him  be  a  positive,  righteous,  loving  person,  and  he 
will  make  the  wilderness  blossom  as  the  rose,  and 
convert  the  human  world  into  a  kingdom  of  peace 
and  love  and  righteousness.  The  Stoic  endures, 
but  does  not  understand;  the  Epicurean  is  super- 
ficial and  darts  aimlessly  about,  sipping  any  flower ; 
the  Hindu  diminishes  self  to  the  vanishing  point; 
the  Christian  overcomes. 

In  respect  to  nature,  the  material  world,  man 
is  a  super-natural  being.  He  lives  in  two  worlds, 
the  material  and  the  spiritual.  Reason  and  will, 
reason  and  purpose,  constitute  him  a  personality, 
achieving,  accomplishing,  creating,  using  nature 
to  further  the  ends  he  chooses  to  realize.  He  is  not 
merely  a  result,  he  is  a  cause.  He  lives,  I  say,  in 
two  worlds.  As  the  hull  of  a  ship  is  in  the  water, 
and.  if  only  a  hull,  is  tossed  up  and  down,  moved 
hither  and  thither  by  the  currents  and  tides,  so 
243 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

man's  body  is  in  the  currents  of  nature.  But  the 
ship  has  masts  and  sails  in  the  air,  another  ele- 
ment. The  sails  are  set  to  the  winds  of  heaven, 
and  the  ship  is  propelled  on  its  course  whitherso- 
ever the  steersman  wills.  A  person  is  in  a  spirit- 
ual atmosphere,  and  can  guide  himself  on  or 
across  the  currents  of  the  denser  element  to  his 
desired  haven.  A  Biblical  writer  compares  the 
tongue  to  the  rudder  of  a  ship,  "Behold  the  ships 
also,  though  they  are  so  great  and  are  driven  by 
rough  winds,  are  yet  turned  about  by  a  very  small 
rudder  whither  the  impulse  of  the  steersman 
willeth.  So  the  tongue  also  is  a  little  member  and 
boasteth  great  things.  Therewith  bless  we  the  Lord 
and  Father,  and  therewith  curse  we  men,  which 
are  made  in  the  likeness  of  God."  The  tongue 
means  speech,  and  speech  means  thought,  reason, 
purpose.  It  is  reason,  it  is  logic,  it  is  philosophy, 
it  is  poetry,  it  is  religion.  Speech  expresses  char- 
acter. A  talking  being  is  a  thinking  being,  a  self- 
directing  being.  Christianity  makes  a  character, 
so  that  man  speaks  the  words  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness. Let  us  come  back  to  the  point.  Chris- 
tianity is  the  religion  of  redemption.  It  redeems 
man  to  himself,  makes  him  master  of  himself,  so 
that  there  is  no  discord  of  desires,  no  clashing  of 

244 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

motives,  but  he  is  rooted  and  grounded  in  love, 
has  faith  and  hope,  is  out  in  the  world  to  make  it 
better,  is  a  self-directed,  God-directed  power  for 
righteousness.  It  is  the  Christ  idea,  the  Christ 
life,  making  its  great  way  to  transform  man  from 
sin  to  goodness,  from  selfishness  to  love. 

And  withal  it  is  so  simple;  a  child  can  under- 
stand it.  Slaves  understood  it;  Zaccheus  under- 
stood it;  the  woman  wiping  Jesus'  feet  understood 
it ;  the  Jews,  the  Greeks,  the  learned,  the  unlearned, 
the  ancients,  understood  it;  the  moderns  under- 
stand it.  For  trust  in  God,  true  goodness,  sym- 
pathy, love,  are  the  most  understandable  things 
in  the  world.  Christ  is  the  appealing  power  to 
move  men  out  of  their  selfishness  and  frivolity, 
and  to  inspire  them  to  love  and  purity  and  faith. 
"Beholding,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  the  Lord, 
we  are  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory 
to  glory." 

A  comprehensive  thought  of  the  unity,  the  poise 
of  life,  is  suggested  in  the  Pauline  word,  "recon- 
ciliation," which  is  a  bringing  together.  Man  is 
reconciled  to  God  because  in  Christ,  in  the  Christ 
spirit,  he  is  realizing  the  ideal  which  is  God*s 
thought  or  plan  of  man;  he  is  reconciled  to  him- 
self for  there  is  no  war  in  his  members,  but  the 

245 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

single-mindedness  of  righteousness,  the  simplicity 
which  is  towards  Christ;  he  is  reconciled  to  his 
fellow  men  in  devotion  of  love,  the  middle  wall  of 
partition  is  broken  down,  there  is  neither  Greek 
nor  Jew,  bond  nor  free,  but  all  are  one  in  Christ 
Jesus,  in  the  Christ  life.  The  word  atonement 
does  not  occur  in  the  New  Testament.  The  single 
instance  in  the  Received  Version,  "through  whom 
we  have  now  received  the  atonement,"  is  correctly 
rendered  in  the  Revised  Version,  "through  whom 
we  have  now  received  the  reconciliation,"  and 
that  other  word  is  by  some  thought  to  be  at-one- 
ment. 

Christianity  has  been  viewed  objectively  in 
former  periods  of  history.  The  forgiveness  of  sins 
by  reason  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  who  bore  the 
penalty,  so  that  if  we  believe  on  Christ  there  is  no 
condemnation,  externalizes  religion.  It  is  some- 
thing done  by  God  long  ago,  a  transaction,  and  we 
have  only  to  believe  it.  This  seems  remote  from 
character,  a  sort  of  magic.  The  forgiveness  of  sins 
means  that  if  God  can  only  convert  man  to  right- 
eousness, it  makes  no  difference  about  the  past: 
"Their  sins  and  iniquities  will  I  remember  no 
more."  And  justification  is  by  faith.  Faith  is 
venturing  out  on  Christ,  and  Christ  is  not  a  mere 

246 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  FAITH 

name,  the  name  of  a  man  who  one  day  was  put  to 
death;  He  is  a  character,  an  example,  an  influence. 
Faith  is  attaching  one's  self  to  Him,  following  Him, 
reproducing  his  spirit.  Forgiveness  of  sins  is  not 
the  cancelling  of  a  bad  account;  it  is  the  upspring- 
ing  of  a  new  life  of  trust  and  righteousness  and 
love,  like  Christ's  life  in  kind,  and  the  man  for- 
gives himself,  the  world  forgives  him,  God  for- 
gives him.  It  is  all,  in  one  sense,  objective,  out- 
side ourselves,  certain  marvelous  events  which 
occurred  centuries  ago.  It  is,  in  another  sense, 
subjective,  pertaining  to  the  moral  and  spiritual 
life  of  the  inner  man.  So,  I  say,  we  know  what  a 
Christian  is,  we  know  the  Christ-type,  and  believe 
it  is  true  manhood,  the  freedom  of  the  Christian 
man.  So  it  was  at  the  first;  if  any  man  be  in  Christ 
he  is  a  new  creation.  So  it  has  been  when  Chris- 
tianity was  obscured  by  dogma,  by  the  authority 
of  the  church,  by  asceticism;  still  the  Christian 
character  was  recognized  as  the  objective  of 
Christianity.  We  have  this  heritage;  the  fullness 
of  moral  and  spiritual  life,  after  the  measure  of 
the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ;  the  kingdom 
of  God,  the  kingdom  of  purified  hearts  and  lives. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   ENLARGEMENT   OF   THE   FAITH 

The  previous  chapter  on  the  Heritage  of  the  Faith 
emphasized  great  essentials,  cleared  of  superflu- 
ities and  contradictions,  as  virtually  the  same 
from  generation  to  generation.  The  continuity  of 
the  faith  through  the  Christian  centuries  might 
be  regarded  as  the  simplifying  of  beliefs.  Jesus 
simplified  the  law.  There  were  a  thousand  pre- 
cepts, commandments,  prohibitions,  and  He  gath- 
ered, we  may  say  rationalized  them  under  two 
great  principles,  these  two  really.  He  said,  being 
one:  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind.  This  is  the  great  and  first  commandment. 
And  the  second  like  unto  it  is  this.  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  com- 
mandments hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets." 
It  is  all  in  one  principle,  love.  So  Paul  simplified : 
"Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor,  therefore 
love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law";  and  again,  unify- 
ing the  gospel  into  the  simplicity  of  great  princi- 

248 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

pies,  "And  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  love,  these 
three,  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  love."  The 
Christian  faith  has  in  these  modern  times  been 
simplified  and  by  the  simplifying  has  been  en- 
larged.  There  is  an  expansion  of  the  faith. 

We  sum  it  all  up  in  two  principles,  two  essen- 
tials :  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood 
of  man.  This  simplifying  is  not  a  reduction,  but 
an  enlargement  of  belief.  There  has  been  a  change 
in  our  thought  of  God,  from  the  conception  of 
Sovereignty  to  the  conception  of  Fatherhood. 
Speaking  broadly,  it  may  be  said,  that  the  Latin 
theology  made  sovereignty  the  central  doctrine. 
The  Roman  government  was  a  type  of  the  divine 
government.  Augustine  exalted  God  the  great 
almighty  ruler.  This  theology  stamped  the  doc- 
trines of  decrees,  of  predestination  and  reproba- 
tion, the  mere  good  pleasure  of  God  as  the  cause 
of  all  events.  The  belief  engendered  fear  and  awe 
rather  than  love  and  trust.  The  Puritan,  Calvin- 
istic  theology  passed  this  doctrine  on  to  the  Con- 
gregational and  Presbyterian  churches.  It  made 
almightiness  superior  to  love.  When  the  sover- 
eignty of  God  is  the  final  resort  of  religious  thought, 
and  the  central  idea  of  theology,  the  assumption 
is  made  that  in  the  last  analysis  it  cannot  be 
249 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

known  for  what  reasons  God  administers  his 
kingdom  of  providence  and  redemption  as  He  does, 
and  that  therefore,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  the 
divine  action  is  arbitrary.  The  center  of  doctrine 
has  shifted  from  sovereignty  to  fatherhood.  It  is 
believed  that  power  is  directed  by  reason  and  rea- 
son by  love.  It  has  been  represented  in  the  past 
that  the  justice  and  the  mercy  of  God  conflict, 
that  a  just  God  requires  strong  inducement  to 
forego  his  purpose  of  punishment,  that  it  could 
hardly  have  been  expected,  is  forever  a  wonder 
and  a  mystery,  that  the  claims  of  justice  could 
be  relinquished.  There  have  been  theologies 
which  adopted  as  a  fundamental  principle  this: 
that  God  must  be  just  and  may  be  merciful.  It 
has  been  held  that  it  is  morally  necessary  that 
God  should  hate  and  punish  a  sinner,  but  only  in 
an  inferior  degree,  if  at  all,  morally  necessary, 
that  in  love  He  should  energize  to  save^the  sinner. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  these  notions  are  aban- 
doned. Indeed,  it  is  not  easy  for  us  to  understand 
them.  God  is  the  God  of  holy  love.  Love  hates 
and  condemns  sin,  cannot  tolerate  sin,  visits  pen- 
alties on  sin,  will  not  have  man  happy  in  his  sin, 
and  therefore  tries  to  restore  the  sinner  to  right- 
eousness, goes  out  in  sympathy  and  love  and 

250 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

sacrifice  to  save  him  from  the  self-destruction 

of  sin. 

The  very  wrath  from  pity  grew. 
From  love  of  men  the  hate  of  wrong. 

Jesus  gave  the  world  the  belief  in  the  fatherhood 
of  God  by  his  words  and  by  living  out  the  life  of 
Sonship,  and  if  we  believe  in  God  in  whom  we  live 
and  move  and  have  our  being,  we  believe  in  his 
fatherhood,  we  believe  that  He  loves  men,  who  are 
the  best  works  of  his  hands.  The  great  mystic 
said,  concisely,  *'  God  is  love."  God  is  a  person ;  He 
is  intelligence,  and  that  is  purpose,  plan;  He  is  will, 
and  that  is  realizing  purpose ;  He  is  love,  that  is,  He 
is  person  related  to  person.  Whatever  more  than 
personality,  as  we  know  it,  He  may  be.  He  is  that 
in  perfect  degree  which  our  best  is  in  imperfect 
degree.  He  is  one  who  knows  and  wills  and  loves. 
Love  includes  all.  The  word  has  been  fused  in 
the  heat  and  glow  of  human  experience.  From 
birth  to  death,  love  ennobles  and  beautifies  every 
period  of  existence;  it  gives  their  value  to  the 
nearest  relationships.  Love  is  the  dearest  word 
of  childhood,  the  deepest  word  of  manhood  and 
womanhood,  the  tenderest  word  of  age,  the  sacred- 
est  word  of  religion.  It  was  gathering  meaning 
through  the  ages,  as  the  family  rooted  itself  in 
251 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

affection,  as  friendships  rang  more  true,  as  human- 
ity became  more  humane,  till  it  was  a  prepared 
word  seized  by  the  greatest  moral  teacher  to 
characterize  the  absolute  goodness.  The  truth 
and  value  of  it  had  been  adumbrated  in  human- 
ity's best  and  so  could  be  adopted  as  the  final  and 
comprehensive  word  for  God  and  for  the  children 
of  God. 

Though  truths  in  manhood  darkly  join. 
Deep  seated  in  our  mystic  frame, 
We  yield  all  blessing  to  the  name 
Of  him  that  made  them  current  coin. 

If,  as  it  does  seem,  this  has  been  obscured  or  al- 
most lost  at  various  periods,  in  the  thought  of  the 
omnipotence,  the  sovereignty,  and,  we  may  say, 
the  remoteness  of  God,  there  is  an  enlargement 
of  knowledge  and  faith  when  God  is  thought  of 
as  a  gracious,  loving  father. 

The  Brotherhood  of  man  has  never  been  so  dis- 
tinctly and  comprehensively  in  view  as  it  is  now. 
It  is  a  religion.  Christianity  is  the  religion  of 
brotherhood.  This  age  is  philanthropic,  or,  as  the 
word  signifies,  man-loving.  When  we  think  of  all 
the  charitable,  benevolent,  educational  organiza- 
tions in  a  great  city,  of  the  vast  amount  of  wealth 
bestowed,  of  the  army  of  helpful  workers,  devot- 

252 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

ing  more  or  less  of  their  time  to  the  service  of 
their  fellow  men,  we  are  observing  a  distinguish- 
ing characteristic  of  present-day  life.  Organiza- 
tion itself,  though  not  always  philanthropic  in  its 
immediate  purpose,  the  banding  together  of  men 
to  promote  every  human  interest  under  the  sun, 
is  the  expression  of  brotherhood.  Labor  unions, 
which  at  first  were  benevolent  associations,  the 
many  societies,  guilds,  fraternities,  all  are  avow- 
edly for  mutual  helpfulness.  No  one  liveth  or 
worketh  to  himseK  alone;  we  are  members  one 
of  another.  It  may  be  said,  with  a  fair  degree  of 
truth,  that  we  are  good  Samaritans.  The  Levite 
and  the  priest  do  not  pass  by  on  the  other  side; 
churches  are  out  in  the  world  for  service.  While  in 
the  past  the  church  has  been  exclusive  and  self- 
sufficient  at  times,  intent  on  making  itself  strong 
and  large,  now  its  equipment  is  for  service.  And 
now  the  idea  of  service,  of  brotherhood,  is  not 
merely  missions  to  distant  peoples  and  to  the 
frontiers,  but  also  service  of  helpfulness  on  the 
street,  in  the  city,  in  the  homes  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. 

There  is  in  society,  no  doubt,  the  spirit  of  ex- 
clusiveness,  race  prejudice,  even  contempt  and 
indijfference,  yet  the  sentiment  of  right-minded 

253 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

men  and  women  rebukes  it.  The  middle  walls  of 
partition,  walls  of  class,  walls  of  culture,  walls  of 
wealth,  are  being  broken  down,  to  a  great  extent 
have  been  broken  down.  The  Christian  spirit  is 
emphatically  the  spirit  of  brotherhood.  The  Jew 
of  old  despised  foreigners,  whether  Greek  or 
Roman.  He  would  not  mingle  with  them  on  terms 
of  social  equality ;  nothing  would  induce  him  to  sit 
at  table  with  a  foreigner.  Now  this  is  reversed, 
for  some,  in  all  lands,  despise  the  Jew.  Jesus,  a 
Jew,  sat  at  meat  with  a  publican,  a  foreigner,  in- 
vited himself:  "Zaccheus,  come  down,  for  to-day 
I  must  abide  at  thy  house  " ;  and  when  they  saw  it 
they  all  murmured,  saying,  he  has  gone  in  to  lodge 
with  a  sinner,  with  a  man  not  a  Jew,  but  to  them  a 
pariah.  There  was  conversation  no  doubt,  though 
there  is  no  record  of  it.  The  mere  fact  that  such  a 
man  as  Jesus  sat  at  his  table  was  enough  for  Zac- 
cheus; it  appealed  to  his  self-respect,  to  his  man- 
hood, and  at  last  he  got  on  his  feet  and  said  he 
was  going  to  give  half  he  had  to  the  poor,  and 
so  far  as  he  had  exacted  wrongfully  of  any  man 
(graft,  that  is,  for  he  was  a  tax  collector)  he  would 
restore  it  fourfold.  And  Jesus  said,  he  is  a  son 
of  Abraham,  as  good  a  Jew  as  any  of  us. 

Criticism  of  the  church  is  aimed  not  at  beliefs, 
254 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

but  at  conduct,  at  its  apartness,  its  unbrotherli- 
ness,  its  lack  of  sympathy.  That  is  no  place  for 
me,  says  the  workingman.  Much  of  this  criticism 
is  undeserved.  The  church  knows  its  mission, 
and,  as  never  before,  goes  out  in  service  of  charity, 
of  neighborhood,  of  gospelling.  And  the  criticism 
has  in  view  the  Christian  law  of  brotherhood; 
when  saying  that  the  church  is  wrong,  is  wanting, 
implies  a  knowledge  of  what  the  church  should  be. 
The  Christian  sentiment  of  brotherhood  is  beau- 
tifully expressed  in  the  meditation  of  Tagore,  a 
modern  Hindu,  in  one  of  his  "Song Offerings"  to 
God  in  the  "Gitanjali." 

Here  is  thy  foot-stool,  and  there  rest  thy  feet  where 
live  the  poorest  and  lowliest  and  lost. 

When  I  try  to  bow  to  Thee,  my  obeisance  cannot 
reach  down  to  the  depth  where  thy  feet  rest,  among 
the  poorest  and  the  lowliest  and  lost. 

Pride  can  never  approach  to  where  thou  walkest  in 
the  clothes  of  the  humble  among  the  poorest  and  low- 
liest and  lost. 

My  heart  can  never  find  its  way  to  where  thou  keep- 
est  company  with  the  companionless,  among  the  poor- 
est, the  lowliest  and  the  lost.  .  .  . 

Is  there  not  an  enlargement  of  faith  in  this 
working  principle  of  brotherhood,  ample  as  the 
human  race,  caring  for  no  artificial  divisions,  but 

255 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

ministering  to  human  need,  wherever  it  can  ?  Pure 
religion  and  undefiled,  says  the  practical  apostle 
James,  before  our  God  and  Father  is  this,  to  visit 
the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction  and  to 
keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world. 

Unspotted  from  the  world.  In  how  many  ways 
that  has  been  interpreted:  renunciation,  asceti- 
cism, abstinence,  not  doing  this,  not  doing  that. 
In  this  respect  there  is  an  enlargement  and  a  sim- 
plifying of  faith.  Christianity  is  the  religion  of 
character.  We  see  more  clearly  that  religion  is  for 
life,  that  it  is  not  merely  correct  beliefs,  but  a 
right  life;  and  we  see  what  kind  of  a  life  it  is.  The 
object  of  religion  is  a  type  of  character,  the  ideal 
man,  after  the  image  of  Him  who  created  him. 
An  apostle  tells  us  to  put  on  Christ  and  to  put  on 
the  new  man,  and  these  two  are  one  and  the  same 
thing.  The  Christian  virtues  are  likened  to  a 
chorus  of  harmony.  We  have  read  in  the  old  ver- 
sion of  adding  one  after  another,  add  to  your  faith 
virtue,  to  virtue  knowledge,  and  to  knowledge 
temperance;  and  in  the  new  version,  supply  in 
your  faith  virtue,  and  in  your  virtue  knowledge, 
and  so  on.  The  Greek  word,  rendered  "add  and 
supply,"  is  the  word  for  a  chorus.  "Choralize, 
harmonize  in  faith  virtue,  and  in  virtue  knowledge, 
^6 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

and  in  knowledge  temperance,  and  in  temperance 
patience,  and  in  patience  godliness,  and  in  god- 
liness brotherly  kindness,  and  in  brotherly  kind- 
ness love." 

The  ideal  is  embodied  in  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  set 
forth  in  a  real  person.  It  is  not  all  nor  partly  in 
theory;  it  has  been  incarnated  in  an  actual  person. 
The  virtue  of  Jesus  is  reproductive  in  others  who 
will  personally  appropriate  it.  It  is  a  type  which 
does  not  discourage,  but  which  appeals  and  moves 
to  the  point  of  choice  and  adoption.  Sympathy 
kindles  sympathy,  kindles  response.  Nothing  in 
the  world  is  so  fitted  to  awaken  response  and  hope 
as  the  living,  actual  Christ,  under  the  burdens  and 
sorrows  of  life  for  the  sake  of  men,  whom  He  con- 
demned, pitied  and  loved.  Such  a  life  is  not  merely 
ideal  and  pattern.  It  is  transforming  moral 
power.  Touched  and  transformed  by  Him,  man 
leaves  not  only  his  old  way  of  sin,  but  also  his  old 
way  of  virtue,  under  prohibition  and  legalism. 
He  has  a  new  principle  of  righteousness  which 
takes  up  all  that  is  good  in  the  old,  fulfilling  the 
law  of  injunctions  and  denials  in  the  higher, 
deeper  law  of  loving  his  neighbor  as  himself.  Men 
see  what  perfection  is  and  reproduce  it  as  one 
light  is  lighted  from  another.  Paul's  best  charac- 

257 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

terization  of  Jesus  is  that  He  is  a  life-giving  spirit. 
The  analogies  of  life  are  the  most  fitting  to  apply 
to  the  power  of  Jesus.  Life  was  a  favorite  word  of 
his.  It  is  the  simplest,  commonest,  greatest  word 
of  Christianity.  Life  is  reproductive.  The  life  of 
Jesus  is  reproduced  in  men  who  are  Christ-like, 
Christian.  How  life  produces  and  quickens  life  is 
a  mystery;  but  reproduction  and  growth  are  the 
most  real  of  all  facts. 

Such  embodiment,  such  incarnation  of  holy 
character  was  not  a  temporary  incident  in  the 
world's  history.  It  was  not  a  power  introduced, 
only  to  be  withdrawn  and  soon  forgotten,  —  it 
was  an  historical  manifestation  of  eternal  reality. 
Having  gained  lodgment  in  human  thoughts  and 
beliefs,  it  cannot  be  dislodged.  The  recorded 
biography  keeps  the  image  fresh.  The  mode  in 
which  the  spirit  and  law  of  Jesus  are  apprehended 
is  of  less  consequence  than  some  suppose.  It  is 
of  comparatively  little  importance  whether  He  is 
thought  of  as  an  historical  personage  of  the  past, 
known  only  by  the  records,  or  as  a  present  spirit- 
ual power,  whether  as  exemplar,  friend,  master  or 
redeemer,  so  long  as  He  is  the  revelation  of  God 
and  the  inspirer  of  life.  Enough  that  He  is  still  the 
way,  the  truth  and  the  life.   That  He  is  such  to 

258 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

millions  of  men  and  women,  that  they  have  his 
character,  that  they  trust  his  Father  and  their 
Father,  is  the  great  fact  showing  that  his  power  is 
still  in  the  world.  I  say  we  see  this  more  clearly, 
the  ideal  man,  the  Christian  character;  that  reli- 
gion is  for  life,  is  a  life  more  clearly,  that  is,  than 
it  was  seen  a  hundred  years  ago,  when  salvation 
was  one  thing  and  character  another,  when  cor- 
rect beliefs  were  more  important  than  correct 
life,  when  faith  was  divorced  from  works.  At 
all  events,  we  see  it  clearly  now,  that  the  man 
new-charactered  is  the  saved  man,  that  this  is 
Christianity. 

The  enlargement  of  faith,  then,  is  perceived  in 
the  clearer  vision  of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  in 
recognition  of  the  claims  of  Brotherhood,  and 
in  the  emphasis  on  character  after  the  type  of 
Christ. 

A  sign  of  the  times  indicating  the  enlargement 
of  the  faith  is  Christian  unity.  The  sects  of  Prot- 
estantism have  been  divided,  even  competitive 
and  antagonistic.  Now  there  is  harmony  and 
union.  Denominational  rivalry  has  well-nigh 
ceased.  The  churches  are  united  for  social  serv- 
ice. This  spirit  has  materialized  in  actual  organ- 
ization.    Councils  composed  of   representatives 

259 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

of  the  various  communions  advise  and  work  to- 
gether for  the  communities  in  which  the  churches 
are  planted  and  for  the  world  to  promote  the  king- 
dom of  God.  That  noble  prayer  for  the  church 
is  being  answered:  "More  especially  we  pray  for 
thy  Holy  Church  universal,  that  it  may  be  so 
guided  and  governed  by  thy  good  Spirit  that  all 
who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians  may 
be  led  into  the  way  of  truth  and  hold  the  faith  in 
unity  of  spirit,  in  the  bond  of  peace,  and  in  right- 
eousness of  life."  The  prayer  of  Jesus  is  answered, 
"Neither  for  these  alone  do  I  pray,  but  for  them 
also  that  believe  in  me  through  thy  word;  that 
they  may  all  be  one;  even  as  Thou  Father  art  in 
me  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us ; 
that  the  world  may  believe  that  Thou  didst  send 
me."  Is  not  Christian  unity  realized  because  the 
faith  is  enlarged,  is  comprehensive,  because  non- 
essentials are  ignored,  essentials  emphasized? 

The  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was, 
in  respect  to  religion,  an  arid  period,  comparable, 
in  a  way,  to  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. In  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury skepticism  and  even  atheism  were  a  fashion. 
In  America  and  Great  Britian  many  educated 
men   regarded   Christianity,   not  as  a  subject 

260 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

worthy  of  honest  inquiry,  but  to  be  treated  with 
scorn  and  ridicule.  Students  in  college  boasted 
that  they  were  skeptics.  Some  assumed  the  names 
of  Voltaire,  Tom  Paine,  and  other  so-called  infi- 
dels. Some  added  "atheist"  when  they  sub- 
scribed their  names.  Religious  students  were  not 
respected,  but  were  ridiculed.  That  is  all  changed. 
If  any  student  should  go  about  boasting  that  he 
is  a  skeptic,  an  infidel,  an  atheist,  he  would  be 
regarded  as  a  crude,  callow,  silly  and  immature 
fellow.  That  temper  of  hostility  no  longer  exists. 
Loss  or  lack  of  faith  is  now  deplored  by  those  who 
have  it  not.  The  late  Professor  Romanes  of  Ox- 
ford in  an  early  work  on  Theism,  in  which  he  con- 
cluded that  we  have  no  certain  knowledge  of  God 
and  must  even  relinquish  faith,  said  that  a  terrific 
calamity  like  a  black  deluge  was  sweeping  over 
the  race  of  men  with  the  loss  of  religious  beliefs; 
and  when  later  he  regained  his  faith,  he  published 
the  fact  and  rejoiced  in  it.  It  has  been  said  truly 
that  the  feeling  of  educated  men  who  have  no 
faith,  or  think  they  have  none,  is  a  feeling  of 
regret.  Such  men  do  not  call  themselves  infidels 
and  atheists;  indeed,  those  words  have  passed  out 
of  use.  Thirty  years  ago  they  were  called  agnos- 
tics, a  term  which  also  has  passed  out  of  use. 
1261 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

The  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was, 
in  another  vein,  an  arid,  or  rather,  an  unsettling 
period.  The  scientific  spirit  was  predominant. 
The  theory  of  evolution  had  been  popularized. 
It  was  confidently  advocated  and  vehemently 
opposed.  Deeper  than  interest  in  its  correctness 
or  erroneousness  was  interest  in  its  bearing  on  the 
conception  of  God,  on  the  very  existence  of  God, 
on  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  on  miracles  and  the 
supernatural,  on  the  fall  of  man,  on  sin  and  redemp- 
tion, in  fact  on  pretty  nearly  all  of  the  accepted 
doctrines  of  Christianity.  Many  embraced  the 
hypothesis  eagerly  and  were  somewhat  effusive 
and  challenging  in  their  advocacy  of  it.  Such  as 
held  their  faith  were  apprehensive  of  the  conse- 
quences. That  time  was  called  an  age  of  doubt. 
Now  there  is  a  different  and  more  serious  attitude 
towards  religion.  New  facts  and  theories  have 
been  assimilated,  have  been  adjusted.  Disturb- 
ance of  thought  and  antagonism  to  religion  are 
the  early  stages  when  a  theory  is  first  broached. 
There  has  been  a  unifying  of  knowledge.  We  do 
not  hear  as  much  as  we  did  about  the  conflict  of 
science  and  religion;  about  the  concessions  reli- 
gion has  made  to  science,  and  the  concessions 
science  has  made  to  religion.    Each  has  gained 

262 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

from  the  other.  Religion  has  gained  a  more  just 
and  noble  conception  of  God  and  of  his  ways; 
science  has  become  more  modest.  Science  is 
thrust  upon  deep  mysteries,  into  which  the  micro- 
scope magnifying  the  germs  of  life  a  thousand- 
fold cannot  penetrate.  Scientists  are  not  so  much 
their  own  philosophers  as  they  were  a  generation 
ago.  They  are  more  often  heard  to  say  that  they 
do  not  know,  or  that  there  is  an  infinite  intelli- 
gence back  of  all  and  in  all.  Each,  I  say,  has 
gained  from  the  other.  It  has  been  sagaciously 
observed  that  after  the  victory  of  science  over 
religion,  science  is  more  spiritual,  and  that  after 
the  apparent  victory  of  religion  over  science,  reli- 
gion is  more  rational.  We  come  back  upon  our- 
selves, persons  in  this  mysterious  world.  We  are 
religious  beings,  with  a  religious  nature,  however 
we  may  have  become  what  we  are.  We  have 
religious  convictions,  needs,  aspirations  which 
must  be  satisfied.  The  religious  man  is  as  real  as 
the  scientific  man,  the  spiritual  man  as  real  as  the 
intellectual  man;  indeed,  they  are  one  and  the 
same  man,  no  more  to  be  separated  than  the  light 
and  the  heat  of  the  sun.  Some  opinions  have  been 
discarded,  but  there  is  a  deeper  sense  of  awe, 
of  reverence,  and  of  aspiration. 

263 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

If  I  read  the  signs  of  the  times  aright,  there  is 
a  revival  of  religion,  or,  at  least,  a  revival  of  in- 
terest in  religion.  It  is  the  most  interesting  sub- 
ject of  conversation.  Books  on  the  history  of 
religion,  on  religious  experience,  psychologically 
considered,  on  mysticism,  on  the  evolution  of  reli- 
gion, pour  from  the  press.  Reviews  and  maga- 
zines make  large  place  for  articles  on  phases  of 
religion.  The  poetry  which  is  most  read  has  the 
religious  motive.  The  novel  of  last  year  that  had 
the  greatest  vogue,  and  was  most  talked  of,  is  a 
book  on  true  religion  and  the  travesties  of  religion. 
Young  men  in  college  talk  much  about  religion 
and  have  no  shyness  in  speaking  of  it. 

At  different  times  it  has  been  predicted  that 
Christianity  is  doomed.  Such  prediction  was 
made  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  and 
was  followed  by  great  revivals,  by  the  extension 
of  missions,  by  expansion  of  the  churches.  Such 
prediction  was  made  twenty-five  years  ago,  when 
it  was  thought  by  some  that  the  very  foundations 
of  Christianity  were  tottering,  and  was  followed 
by  widespread  revival  of  interest  in  religion,  by 
a  growing  church,  in  America  an  increase  more 
rapid  than  the  increase  of  population,  by  a  wide 
application  of  Christianity  to  social  service,  by  a 
264 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

profounder  thought  of  God.  Human  evolution  by 
the  sympathetic  as  well  as  by  the  self -regarding 
impulses;  the  moral  and  spiritual  character  of 
man;  the  implication  of  God  in  the  universe  and 
in  human  nature;  intimations  of  immortality; 
these  assert  themselves.  We  are  not  satisfied  with 
material  goods,  to  delve  and  toil  and  amass. 
There  are  higher  values  than  wealth:  art,  music, 
poetry,  character,  duty,  faith.  It  is  difficult  to 
describe  this  concern  about  religion,  but  it  exists. 
Christianity  emerges,  disencumbered,  clarified, 
enlarged;  the  essentials,  God,  Christ,  the  Spirit- 
ual Life,  Brotherhood,  Immortality,  not  denied, 
but  affirmed. 

At  the  time  of  this  writing,  a  war,  which  in- 
volves seven  European  nations,  is  being  waged. 
It  surpasses  in  magnitude  and  in  destruction  of 
life  any  war  of  history.  Hundreds  of  thousands 
of  young  men  are  killed,  plimging  as  many  homes 
in  sorrow;  cities  and  towns  are  laid  waste;  even 
women  and  children  are  slain;  monuments  of  art, 
that  can  never  be  replaced,  are  destroyed.  Such  a 
war  seems  to  set  Christian  civilization  backward. 
The  motive  of  the  aggressors  is,  apparently,  the 
desire  of  one  of  the  nations  to  be  greatest.  The 

265 


A  CENTURY'S  CHANGE  IN  RELIGION 

spirit  of  militarism  would  subordinate  all  to  itself. 
The  doctrine  that  might  makes  right  is  openly 
proclaimed.  This  is  contrary  to  Christianity. 

We  note,  however,  with  much  satisfaction,  a 
mighty,  well-nigh  universal  protest  against  this 
doctrine.  The  nations  attacked  say,  we  will  not 
be  subordinated  to  this  spirit  of  mere  power. 
Above  all,  the  horror  which  is  felt  and  voiced  at 
the  unprecedented,  the  unspeakable  atrocities 
and  cruelty  which,  it  is  alleged,  accompany  the 
march  of  a  great  army  over  the  territory  of  a 
neutral  and  unoffending  country,  is  the  stirring 
of  humane,  of  Christian  feeling.  The  assertion 
that  the  war  is  declared  in  the  name  of  Christian 
civilization  and  culture  is  derided. 

What  the  issue  will  be,  who  can  tell.'* 

The  vast  majority  of  the  people  of  all  nations 
hope  and  believe  that  the  spirit  of  militarism  will 
be  broken,  that  one  nation  after  another  will  be 
released  from  the  burden  of  providing  weapons  of 
war,  that  the  arts  of  peace  will  prevail,  that  demo- 
cratic government  will  be  extended,  that  Chris- 
tian civilization  will,  in  the  end,  be  promoted, 
that  the  right  will  triumph. 

The  expectation  of  the  aggressors  that  war 
would  be  the  occasion  of  internal  dissension  in 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  FAITH 

this  and  that  nation,  that  England  would  be 
plunged  into  a  civil  war,  and  that  her  colonies 
would  rebel;  that  the  councils  of  France  would  be 
divided;  that  Russia  might  be  torn  asunder  by 
a  revolution;  that  little  Belgium  would  tamely 
acquiesce  in  the  violation  of  her  neutrality,  — 
this  expectation  has  proved  groundless.  The  po- 
litical parties  of  England  have  laid  aside  differ- 
ences and  are  united  at  home  and  in  the  colonies 
in  defense  of  the  country;  France  has  forgotten 
partisanship  and  is  solid  in  support  of  the  Repub- 
lic; Russia  has  proclaimed  Poland  free,  and  has 
devoted  her  undivided  energy  to  resistance  of 
tyranny;  Belgium  has  fought  an  amazing  fight 
for  national  integrity  and,  by  her  heroism,  has 
probably  saved  other  nations  from  the  greatest 
disasters.  Loyalty  and  bravery  in  the  defense 
of  honor  and  of  right  are  mighty  and  will  finally 
prevail. 

One  hundred  years  ago  Europe  was  swept  bare 
by  wars  of  might  against  right,  yet  out  of  those 
catastrophes  came  an  advance  of  civilization. 
So  it  may  be,  must  be,  will  be  now. 

THE   END 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U    .    S    .    A 


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